


Heaven In Hiding

by livinglittlelie



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (... or does it?), (I've been told I've made people cry though), (That explains the warning tag), Adrien has cat ears and tail, Adrien is a Ghost, Art by innocentcinnamonbun, Chloé's redemption, F/M, Kind of Marichat, Marinette can see ghosts, Miraculous Big Bang 2k17, Tikki and Plagg are cute cat spirits, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Well there's angst too, but it's for drama purposes, eventual DramaTM, ghost au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-07 16:50:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12845406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livinglittlelie/pseuds/livinglittlelie
Summary: Marinette wasn’t sure when it started, exactly, but for as long as she could remember, she could see things the others couldn’t. Society had different names to identify them—be it spirits, spectres, or common ghosts.She just called them friends.Marinette had decided to help her spirit friends to go to the other side, to get their well-deserved eternal rest. But what will she do when the spirit who appears in front of her is no other than Adrien Agreste, a famous model that died a year ago?





	1. I See You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally able to post this story! This is part of the Miraculous Big Bang, a project of 4 months where writers and fan creators of the fandom work together to produce beautiful worksfor all you guys to enjoy.
> 
> These four months I had the pleasure to work with [innocentcinnamonbun](http://innocentcinnamonbun.tumblr.com/) . Inno has made _beautiful_ art for this fic, so make sure to check it out (it will be linked at the end of the fic), and check Inno's tumblr, now that you're at it.  
>  Also, big thanks to [wonderfulwizardofthozz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderfulwizardofthozz/pseuds/wonderfulwizardofthozz/works?fandom_id=582724) for being the best beta to ever exist.
> 
> Now, go on with it! Enjoy!

Marinette’s life wasn’t easy. Don’t get her wrong; it wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy it, it was just that she always had too much to do. Between schoolwork, her responsibilities as the class president, helping out at her parents’ business and her hobby in designing, she had her plate full.

And that didn’t take into account her self-imposed job.

Marinette wasn’t sure when it started, exactly, but for as long as she could remember, she could see things the others couldn’t. When she was a child, she had told her mother about all her invisible friends, but she pegged it as her having a hyperactive imagination. When time went on and her “friends” didn’t disappear, her mother began to worry.

Suddenly, her “hyperactive imagination” turned into something that was wrong, somehow. Her mother made her visit an array of different psychologists, and all of them insisted that her friends didn’t exist. But how couldn’t they exist when she could see and talk to them just fine? For her, they were as real as her _maman_ and papa—and every other human being.

However, it seemed that it was in human nature to forbid things to exist just because they couldn’t see them.

With time, she learnt to keep quiet about her friends, and the visits to the doctors stopped soon afterwards. She loathed the way adults looked at her, as if they had fixed her somehow, when there was nothing to fix in the first place. Either way, she kept her mouth shut about her invisible friends, and, soon enough, everything was all but another anecdote to share at family reunions.

However, that didn’t mean she’d stopped talking to her friends, oh no. She just learnt to talk to them when no one was listening.

As she grew up, she began to understand what they were and why no one else could see them. Society had different names to identify them—be it spirits, spectres, or common ghosts. They were imprints of living beings left in Earth, a trace of a consciousness that was still attached to life. Every single one of them had a reason to stay behind, and once that reason was solved, they moved on, leaving to the afterlife.

Now, Marinette, after all those years dealing with these creatures, had made up a better classification for them. Not all the apparitions were the same, nor had the same intentions, so putting them in the same category was plain wrong.

First of all, there were what she liked to call Linked. They were what people thought of when they said the word ghost; beings that had some regrets or unattended issues when they died. They could be attached to a place, a person, or an object, and they would exist in the mortal realm until their unfinished business was solved.

Marinette enjoyed talking to them. They had the funniest stories to share and so many life lessons to teach. They were usually overjoyed when they discovered Marinette could see them and were usually amicable towards her. Some of them overstepped her boundaries a bit but always understood when she asked for space.

Then you had the Protectors. They were usually spirits of animals, and they could move freely around. They didn’t have any issues tying them to life; it was in their nature to exist between the living. They were transmitters of emotions and protectors of the living beings’ emotional wellbeing.

Some examples of protectors were Tikki and Plagg. Tikki, a small cat with ebony fur and blue eyes, was the protector of luck; Plagg, a bigger cat with midnight black fur and green eyes, was the protector of mischief.

They came and went from time to time, but, more times than not, they ended up following her around. The reason why, she didn’t know. She guessed it was because she was the only human able to pet them and give them offerings.

The last category was the Evil. Those were easy to pinpoint for the dark aura surrounding them. There was something about them that chilled her to the bone, and she knew it was better not to get involved with them. The other spirits feared them, and, overall, everyone avoided them. Marinette tried to stay away as far as possible from them, pretending she couldn’t see them.

However, they didn’t stick around for long. She didn’t know how or why, but those harmful spirits seemed to vanish in a few days. That was something she was grateful for; she really didn’t want to deal with them.

So, after years and years of living around spirits, Marinette was set on a mission. After listening to how her Linked friends talked about their regrets, she had decided to help them find peace. Sometimes, it was talking to their living relatives, leaving them little messages, or taking care of their prized possessions.

She enjoyed helping her friends. After all, she was the only one that could do it, and they deserved eternal rest. None of them knew what was waiting at the other side, but the Protectors swore it was better than being stranded in Earth.

Some, however, couldn’t leave. Like one Australian lady from the forties attached to a pocket watch. Lady Catherine was lovely, but she was a force to be reckoned with when she was mad. She was still waiting patiently for her husband to return from England, even after all those years. He had left when WWII was in full swing and had never come back. And no matter how many times she told her that her husband was probably dead, Lady Catherine paid no mind.

On the bright side, Lady Catherine was the perfect host for their monthly tea parties.

As it had been said before, taking care of her invisible friends was something she enjoyed very much, but it sometimes left her drained. She had just too many things to take care of, and she needed a break of her self-imposed responsibilities.

That day, Marinette arrived home and went directly to her room, not even checking if there was anyone there. She dropped her bag on a chaise she’d gotten in the antiques shop, which had belonged to a little girl that refused to go until her precious chaise was taken care of. She let herself drop after her bag, resting her head against the chaise’s backrest and letting out a loud sigh.

She thought about taking a nap. She felt dead on her feet, but if she slept too much now she would have a hard time falling asleep at night. However, no matter how much she tried, every second it was harder to keep her eyes open. Her eyes landed on the calendar hung in her wall—it was Wednesday afternoon, and she was already done with everything. Well, at least she only had two more days of waking up early until the weekend.

She felt a light pat against her leg. She looked down, just to see Plagg curling up against her thighs. Noticing her eyes on him, he looked up with wide, pleading green eyes that held only one purpose: guilt-tripping her into giving him treats. She sighed in defeat, knowing she couldn’t resist puppy eyes, well, _kitty_ eyes of any kind.

“Wait one second, _minou_. I’ll go get your _offerings_.”

The spirit cat meowed happily, and Marinette forced herself to get up. She gripped the backrest for a moment, fighting over the dizziness that suddenly got over her, and once it passed, she made her way to the kitchen.

Her home was silent, but that much was expected. Her parents were still working at the shop, and they wouldn’t come back for at least two more hours.

Once she got to the kitchen, she cut some cheese slices for Plagg and grabbed some cookies for Tikki, as the little spirit was bound to meet Plagg soon enough. Deciding to indulge herself, she made herself a sandwich and left to her room, nibbling at her treat all the way.

Marinette left the plate full of treats on her desktop and yawned loudly. Plagg, who had thrown himself to eat his food even before she’d laid the plate, looked up at her, gulping down the food in his mouth. He blinked slowly at her, unimpressed. She could feel the spirit of mischief judging her, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“What?”

He blinked at her again, then nodded to her bed on top of them. “Go to bed, human,” he said in an unimpressed voice.

“It’s too early, Plagg. I won’t be able to rest well later if I go to sleep now.”

The black cat cocked his head, and she could swear he was raising an eyebrow at her. Their staring contest dragged on for minutes, until Marinette had to look away to yawn. The smug look he shot her afterwards should had been banned.

“Okay!” she conceded, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “But if I wake up at three AM today and I can’t go back to sleep, you won’t be getting any treats for a week.”

The spirit just rolled his eyes and resumed eating his cheese, ignoring her completely. Marinette stuck her tongue at him, but seeing as the cat was unfazed at her teasing, she gave up and climbed up the stairs to get to her bed.

The mattress was comfier than she remembered, and her duvet was way softer. Why did she feel like she was lying on a cloud instead of her normal bed, out of the sudden?

She spread her legs and arms as much as she could, feeling her stiff muscles stretching and her joints crack. Her head swam when she rested it on her pillow, her dizziness coming back in full force. If she hadn’t been already lying down, she would’ve fallen.

Once the world stopped spinning around her, she opened her eyes, meeting instantly Tikki’s worried expression. She reached to scratch her behind the ears, and chuckled when the little cat spirit purred in satisfaction.

“I’m okay, Tikki. Just tired, that’s all. There are some treats waiting for you downstairs, why don’t you go and join Plagg?”

Tikki was hesitant at first, but she jumped off Marinette’s bed. Just as the spirit was out of sight, Marinette dropped her smile. She buried her head on the pillow, begging the dizziness to go away. She had really tired herself out this time, huh?

She took deliberate slow breaths, trying to suppress everything around her. Soon, the dizziness turned to drowsiness, and her limbs started to feel heavy. Her thoughts soon muted down until her mind was completely silent, and then, she felt herself drifting off.

When her eyes opened again, she felt completely well-rested. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but judging by the moonlight coming through her windows, she could guess that it had been quite a long nap. She stretched her limbs, enjoying the tingling of her stretched muscles, and then let go, sighing in satisfaction.

That’s when she noticed it. The air fell still and charged, and there was a weird presence surrounding her, something she had never felt before. She sat down, looking at her surroundings with wariness. The temperature in the room dropped, and her skin filled with goose bumps.

“Tikki? Plagg? Are you still here?”

Suddenly, her room filled with a bright light that made her shut her eyes. She blinked disoriented, trying to make the white spots in her vision go away. When she had somewhat regained her sense of sight, she looked around, trying to spot what exactly had made her room flash so bright before. What she bumped into left her breathless.

In front of her was standing a boy in his late teens. He was wearing black traditional clothes, similar to the ones she’d seen in oriental illustrations. And on his head, strangely enough, were a pair of dark ears that twitched at every sound, almost as if they were real. A split baton was resting on his hip, ready to be wielded against any upcoming threat, and his whole body was surrounded with this bluish, ethereal aura she had learnt to associate with the dead.

However, any of that wasn’t what had startled her, oh no. It was the fact that she recognized those kind features, that really soft-looking blond hair, and those deep green eyes that stared at her with a seriousness that chilled her from head to toe. The person in front of her was Adrien Agreste, her favourite model. Someone who had suffered a mortal accident almost a year ago.

If she hadn’t been already used to this whole ghost shenanigans, she would’ve screamed so loud she would have woken up her whole neighbourhood. But no, Marinette was a total pro in ghost apparitions. She had helped hundreds of them to find peace, she wouldn’t get _scared_ of a mere ghost.

Instead, she squawked as she pointed at him, eyes and mouth wide open, but no sounds coming out of it.

Something shifted in Adrien Agreste’s ghost eyes, something that resembled curiosity. His ears twitched again, and Marinette felt a sudden urge to reach for them to see if they were as soft as they looked. He took a step at her direction, and she immediately shifted back in her bed, putting some space between them. The newcomer noticed, and a slow smile began blossoming in his face.

“You can see me?” he asked, and his voice was more beautiful than she remembered from TV interviews.

She nodded.

He stepped closer and Marinette shuffled back until her back touched the wall. It was then when her mind registered that she was, indeed, sitting in her bed, and the ghost in front of her was floating.

He reached her bed and sat cross-legged, eyeing her with curiosity. Marinette, once the initial surprise had faded, studied the boy in front of him too. It was then when she noticed the black tail, wiggling lazily behind him, almost as if it had a mind of its own. She stopped herself before she could reach for it.

“Wow, it’s the first time a living human being can see me since I died. Is it the first time you see one of my kind, or have you seen ghosts before?”

She raised her eyes from his wagging tail to his face. “Uh, the second one. I’ve seen ghosts since I was a child.”              

“That’s awesome!”

Suddenly, he shot her the brightest grin she had ever seen in her life, and Marinette had to clutch her chest to make sure her heart kept on beating. That was it. She had died and gone to heaven. There was no way possible that was real.

His brow furrowed at her reaction, and he inched closer still. “Are you okay?”

“Yes! Very much okay! Never been better!”

He looked confused at her reaction, and ugh, so was she. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she behave normally in front of the—okay, _really gorgeous_ —ghost? Sure, she had been a really huge fan of his father’s work, and she may have had a teensy tiny celebrity crush on him, but that didn’t matter anymore. It didn’t matter who Adrien Agreste was before; now he was a Linked that had appeared in front of her, so she had to get herself together and help him.

So, taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage and decided to start over.

“Sorry, you surprised me. It’s just— I want to study fashion design when I’m older, and I recognised you from the magazines. I didn’t expect to see you as a Linked.”

“Oh, you actually knew about me?” He rubbed his neck in embarrassment, a tiny smile in his lips. “Um, wow. That’s the first time that has happened since— wait. Linked? What’s that?”

“Oh. I meant ghost. I made up a classification.” She shrugged. “It’s easier to deal with you guys this way.”

His eyes glinted in interest. His ear twitched again, and Marinette’s eyes were drawn to every little movement that they made. Her hand raised to touch it, but stopped before she could, cheeks flaring up.

Right. Don’t touch a spirit until they give you permission. She remembered last time she had touched a spirit without warning, and it hadn’t been pretty. Ghosts tended to forget what it felt like to be touched by someone else, and it usually surprised them when they felt it again.

It was also rude.

For how he was looking at her, he seemed to have caught up in her actions, but he didn’t comment anything about the matter.

“So you’ve catalogued spirits? That’s really interesting. And you’ve said you have seen spirits before. Right?”

“Yeah. I’ve been able to see them since I was little. Actually, I don’t remember not seeing you guys.”

His tail wiggled from side to side, more similar to a dog than a feline. He grinned widely.

“That’s fantastic! I have never met someone who could see us before! Wait until I tell my friends about this!”

“Friends?” She cocked her head.

“Yeah, my friends at the Purgatory. They’ll love it.”

Marinette’s head snapped up at that. “Wait, Purgatory? Like the afterlife?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve already gone to the other side?” She stared at him with her mouth open wide.

“Yep,” he answered, popping the p cheekily.

“And you can come back?”

He smiled cheekily at her. “I’m here, so yes.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Why not? It’s fun to come back once in a while.”

Marinette’s mind reeled at the information. She had never met a ghost who had already gone to the afterlife and came back. And for the look of it, he didn’t have any unfinished business in here. He didn’t fit in any of the classifications she had made up in years, and showed signs she had never seen before. Marinette was at a loss.

“So, let me get this straight. You’re a ghost that has already moved on. You don’t have anything that links you here. But you come back to Earth sometimes, to… have fun?”

He shrugged. “Something like that, yeah.”

“Just what are you?”

“I’m one of a kind, Princess.” He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

Marinette stared at the boy, utterly gobsmacked. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sounds came out of it. Was he… was he _flirting?_

“P-princess?”

“Yeah, it fits you just nicely.”

“ _How!?”_

He waved at her. She looked down, and saw she was still wearing her outdoor clothes, which were a long-sleeved white blouse with a big bow on the low collar, and a pale pink skirt. She rolled her eyes.

“Clothes don’t make you a princess.”

“Oh my, but you are a royal beauty.”

She groaned. “That was really bad, Adrien. Are you always this flirty at home?” She crossed her arms in a teasing reprimand. “And what about the pun? Was it necessary?”

An odd look crossed his face, something she didn’t miss. She went around to what she said, trying to think of what could have make him look like this. She hadn’t been too harsh, had she?

“Um,” she added after a while, “did I say something wrong? I was just teasing, but…”

He seemed startled by that, and a slow smile began blossoming in his face. “No! Don’t worry. It’s just me, I’m silly. It’s just… there’s only one person left at Purgatory that still calls me Adrien. It was nice hearing someone else calling me that again.”

“So… is it fine if I call you Adrien?” she asked, hesitant.

“More than fine!” He grinned saucily. “You can call me Adrien as many times as you want. Which reminds me—I didn’t catch your name, Princess.”

He wasn’t going to let that nickname drop, was he?

“My name’s Marinette. Nice to meet you, Adrien. Although the circumstances aren’t… ideal.”

“Likewise. You’re the most interesting thing that has happened to me in a very long time.”

A loud hiss interrupted them. They turned startled to the noise, just to see Plagg with his gaze fixated on Adrien, his fur standing up on end. His eyes were shining with an unnatural light, the green of his irises glowing in the dark.

“Plagg! Stop!”

The cat’s eyes went to her, and his fur flattened a bit, but he still looked at Adrien in distrust. However, his threat meant nothing to the ghost boy, as he scooped over to look at him better. Plagg swiped his paw at him, trying to scratch him. Adrien avoided it effortlessly.

“You’re a Lar, aren’t you?” he asked with genuine interest in his voice.

He hissed in answer. A soft meow made them look down to Marinette’s desk, where Tikki was observing them wary.

“Two Lares! You have two Lares protecting you?” He turned to look at her with wide eyes. “You really are amazing!”

She tried not to blush at his compliment, and looked down at the two cat-like creatures. Lares, he’d call them?

“So they’re... Lares? What exactly are they?”

Adrien leaned back, and Plagg relaxed considerably at that. “They are household protection spirits. They bring their blessing to whichever house that prayed for them, and were believed to be lesser gods.” Plagg snarled in annoyance. Adrien rolled his eyes. “Okay, _super powerful gods.”_

“Oh.” She frowned slightly. “I just called them Protectors. I had seen some around, but I hadn’t noticed they were bound to a place. After all, Plagg and Tikki come and go whenever they please.”

“They must be bound to you, then… which is even more fascinating. You’re one of a kind, Princess.”

Plagg leaped forward, putting himself in between Marinette and Adrien. Marinette jumped in surprise at the sudden movement. She had never seen the laidback spirit so angry before.

“Kid, watch it!” Plagg snarled, “or I’ll be sending you to Purgatory into pieces!”

“Plagg!”

She reached for him and scooped him by his axillae, ignoring how much he thrashed to set himself free. She placed him on her thighs and scratched him behind his ears, something she knew he loved. He turned into putty in her arms, although he kept on sending nasty glares his way.

“I’m sorry on his behalf. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s always so laid back… he only gets mad if he doesn’t get his Camembert.”

Adrien’s eyes were focused on Marinette’s fingers, staring attentively at how they caressed Plagg’s fur. He felt a shiver go through him from head to toe, but she didn’t notice, as focused as she was on calming down the Lar.

“So,” he started, then cleared his throat, “you do this a lot?”

She looked back at him in confusion. “What, feeding him Camembert?”

“No. Petting him.”

Marinette looked down at Plagg again and buried her fingers in his fur, earning a purr of appreciation. “Sometimes. Tikki’s up to pets way more often than Plagg, but some days he demands to be pet for hours, until he gets tired of it.”

Adrien hummed, and she looked up again, just to see him lost in thought, a faraway look in his eyes.

“Adrien?”

He snapped out of it, and grinned at her. “Sorry, I got distracted.”

But her cheery expression didn’t fool her. There was something underneath, a deep longing shining in his eyes that made her heart twist. She saw his fingers twitch, just to clench them in tight fists.

“What’s wrong?”

His eyes, which had fallen down again to watch her caress the Lar, snapped up at her. “There’s nothing wrong, Princess.”

“Liar. I can see you’re not fine.” After a tense silence, she sighed and added, “it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, but don’t lie to me, please. I hate lies.”

Adrien’s cheerful mask fell. He ran his hand through his wild locks, making his cat ears wiggle at the movement. He then rested his hand on his nape, shifting his gaze to the side to avoid looking at her. Marinette waited patiently for him, her attention going from him back the cat in her arms, who had started nipping at her fingers when she’d stopped caressing him.

Adrien opened his mouth, just to close it afterwards. He dropped his hand to his lap, and played with the ends of his strange robes.

“It’s… It’s silly, really,” he mumbled under his breath. Marinette scooped closer.

“I still want to know.”

His eyes darted to her face, then dropped again. “Can you… can you touch ghosts?”

She nodded. He hesitated, then turned his head to look at her fully.

“Do you think… if it’s not much bother, would you, maybe, possibly… touch me?” He winced. “If it’s not weird. I don’t want to be weird. Oh god, it’s weird, right? You just don’t go asking people to touch you. I should know better than this. Forget I said anything. You know what, forget I even came here. I’m just going to go and—”

“Adrien!”

She kneeled down, reaching for the ghost that was starting to leave. He jumped at her call, his ears and tail straightening up in surprise. He looked back at her, and the afraid and almost hopeful look broke her heart in tiny pieces.

How could she even deny his innocent wish?

“Adrien, it’s okay. I’ll touch you.”

He turned fully to look at her. “But—!”

“No buts. I’ve dealt with quite a lot of ghosts, and I know how much you miss touching. It’s okay.” She sat down again and patted her bed in front of her, beckoning him closer. “Now, can you come back here?”

He stood frozen in his place, looking at her unbelieving. She smiled reassuringly at him, hoping that would be enough to erase whatever that was holding him down. It seemed to work, as he slowly made his way towards her, just hesitating when he was about to sit down.

He finally sat in front of her, legs crossed, and arms glued to his sides. Marinette, knowing he wouldn’t be the one to take the first step, raised her hand and brought it close to him, in a silent offering. He stared at her extended palm, something akin to longing shining in his eyes. Hesitating, he raised his own hand, stopping himself before his skin touched hers. He looked up at her, and she nodded at him encouraging.

Swallowing down a lump in his throat, he moved his hand the few centimetres that separated them, and joined their palms. The look in his face was indescribable, and made Marinette ache.

They stayed like this for some moments, then Adrien intertwined their fingers, relishing the feeling of someone else’s touch on him, after so long unfeeling. Marinette had no idea what was going through his head at that instant, but she hoped that she had helped him, somehow.

She hadn’t noticed she had closed her eyes, or that their foreheads had been resting against each other. She opened them, blinking at the raw intensity shining in Adrien’s green eyes looking back at her. She felt breathless and full, rooted to the place and flying at the same time. It was all contradictory but made sense at the same time.

She hadn’t expected to feel such a whirlwind of emotions as soon as he touched her, and she couldn’t fully comprehend where they came from. She had never felt anything slightly similar with any other ghost, or anyone else altogether, but she had the feeling that was going to be something recurrent with Adrien. The boy was one of a kind.

Both of them put some distance between them, their eyes never leaving each other. It was when Adrien licked his lips and gave her a hesitant smile when the sparkling magic faded slightly from around them.

“Well, that was something,” he said with a rough voice. He cleared his throat and continued, “I really wasn’t expecting _this_ when I came here.”

“I could say the same, you know?” She tugged at one of her tails in sudden shyness. “So, was it as good as you had expected it?”

“Well, they _do_ say that a Princess’ touch is magical, don’t they?” he asked cheerfully. Marinette frowned slightly at that.

His grip on her hand tightened, and Marinette’s attention was moved to their still joined hands. She trailed experimentally one finger on the back of his hand, and she saw him shivering slightly. Huh, so it _had_ affected him as much as her.

“Well, glad to be of service.” She shrugged, but both of them wore matching grins.

Suddenly, both of them were startled by the loud chime of bells coming from outside of her room. She noticed that Adrien’s ears and tail were standing straight, looking very much like a scared cat. Would his hair also puff when he was scared?

“Sorry about that; my mum loves old clocks, but old clocks don’t love us, or silence.”

He shook his head. His hair looked wilder than before. “Don’t worry. It just startled me, that’s all. By the way, what time is it?”

She looked down at her watch. “Oh, it’s 3 am.”

Adrien looked at her in horror. “What are you doing awake so late!?”

“… Talking to you?”

He shook his head. “Nope. We can’t have none of that. You’re going to tuck yourself in your bed and sleep at least 7 hours straight. Did I make myself clear?”

“But I have class tomorrow—”

“ _Did I make myself clear?_ ”

“Yes, sir.” She saluted him mockingly. He just nodded at the bed.

Rolling her eyes, she let go of his hand and untucked the bedsheets, slipping in and covering her legs with them. Then, she shot him a look that said ‘ _Are you happy?_ ’, and he nodded approvingly.

“I guess it’s time for me to leave.” He rubbed his neck in a sudden gesture of shyness. “I’ll make sure I come at a more reasonable hour next time.”

“You’re coming back?” she couldn’t help but sound eager at that.

“Of course! How could I leave a Princess alone?” Shooting her a grin, he grabbed her hand, and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. “Have sweet dreams, Marinette. See you soon.”

And with a ripple of the air he disappeared, leaving her room feeling slightly empty without him. She stared at the place he had been sitting mere seconds ago, her mind going through everything that had happened, then decided to follow his advice. Lying down fully, she buried her face in the pillow and couldn’t help but smile.

She felt Plagg and Tikki climbing up to her bed again, curling up against her. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, when she suddenly raised her head.

“Oh, Plagg. It’s 3 am and I’m awake, so you’re not getting any treats for a week.”

Plagg yowled in despair, and Marinette rested her head in the pillow, chuckling to herself. Feeling more content than she had felt in a long time, she let herself fall back asleep, eager to find out what would wait for her in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lar is pronounced [lɑɹ], and Lares is [lɑɹes]
> 
> Link to all the fanart of the story [here](http://innocentcinnamonbun.tumblr.com/post/168333589862/heaven-in-hiding-by-livinglittlelie-marinette) (careful! contains spoilers!) 
> 
> As always, feel free to check out my [writing blog](https://writinglittlelies.tumblr.com/), where I make updates of my fics, comments and post drables, and my [main blog](http://livinglittlelie.tumblr.com/)


	2. Mlle Ladybug and M Chat

The second time Adrien appeared in her room, she managed to only jump slightly at the sudden burst of light. She raised her eyes from the magazine she was eyeing and placed it to the side, absorbing the sight of him in her slightly too-pink room. _So it hadn’t been a dream, then._

He turned to look at her, and the biggest of smiles made its way to his face. “Marinette! It’s good to see you!”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her beating heart down. She still wasn’t used to having _Adrien Agreste_ in front of her and looking so happy about it. If you had told her almost a year ago that this would be happening, she would have probably fainted. Right. She had to get a grip, and fast.

“Good afternoon, Adrien!” Her eyes darted to the package he was carrying in his arms. “What do you have in there?”

“A peace offering. Is Plagg around?”

She nodded to her bed, where a little black head was popping up. Plagg’s eyes were focused on the blond spirit, and he followed every one of his movements, hissing when he got closer to them. Adrien raised his hands up in surrender, and Plagg’s ears twitched, his attention then drawn to the package held in his hand.

“Hey buddy. I brought you a present.”

Adrien slowly unwrapped his gift, and Marinette had to scrunch her nose up at the sudden strong smell coming from it. Plagg, however, instantly shot himself towards Adrien, landing on his shoulders and climbing to his hand hungrily. Adrien, trying to make it easier to the spirit cat, brought his hand down, showing Marinette that what was inside of the package was no other than the stinkiest Camembert she had ever seen. No wonder Plagg had reacted like that.

The black cat stopped himself to smell the cheese in front of his face, purring appreciatively. He bit into the Camembert and actually yowled in delight at the flavour.

“We’re good, kid,” he said between bites, spraying Adrien with bits of cheese, “you can come whenever you want.”

Adrien scrunched his nose and rubbed off the bits of food from his face. “Thanks, I guess.”

“None needed. You’ll have to bring more of this stuff, though, or I might change my mind.”

After saying that, Plagg grabbed the last bit of Camembert and brought it to Marinette’s bed, ignoring her cries of protest. She’ll have to clean Plagg’s mess later—or the smell would stay for days. She’d probably have to wash her sheets, too. Just perfect.

Adrien just shook his head and laughed at the cat’s antics, earning a glare from the dark-haired girl. After a while, he threw himself on the chaise and rested his head on Marinette’s legs. He rubbed himself on the denim of her jeans and made a sound that almost sounded like a purr.

Marinette was about to explode.

“A-Adrien!?” she exclaimed, her cheeks bright red and trying not to jump—mainly because she had the spirit of one _Adrien Agreste_ resting on her legs.

He opened one of his eyes, feigning confusion. “What is it?”

“What… ah, what are you doing?”

“Resting my eyes. My morning was pretty packed, and I didn’t have time to take a breather.” He sighed, content. “Ah, I needed this.”

Marinette opened and closed her mouth, not knowing which of her many questions to address first. After a while, she decided to stick to one of them. “But why are you on top of me?”

Adrien opened his other eye, and pouted at her. “What do you mean, ‘why are you on top of me’? Don’t you want me to be here?” He gasped dramatically. “I thought we were _friends_ , Marinette. We had a bonding moment, we held hands!”

Marinette rolled her eyes at his antics, but she let him rest on her thighs. Who would have guessed that Adrien Agreste, one of the most renowned models in Paris, would have a such a dorky side in him? More than one fangirl would surely be devastated to know that their favourite supermodel would rather curl himself like a cat than sit down looking casual.

To be honest, she was starting to feel pretty fond of that part of him.

After some hesitation, she raised her hand and stroked his hair, earning a content hum from the boy. He closed his eyes and butted at her hand like a cat. She smiled at how adorable he was acting.

“I’d forgotten how nice it felt human touch,” he hummed to himself, his voice soft and sleepy. “Ghosts are just too cold—blame the aether for that. You, however, are super warm. Makes me want to cuddle you.”

“Do you, now?”

He nodded and shifted slightly, facing her stomach. He snaked his arms around her, pulling her closer, and buried his head on her stomach. He sighed, satisfied.

“Yep. Much better.”

A stifled exclamation escaped Marinette’s lips at the action. Her arms hovered above him frantically, at a loss of what to do with a lapful of Adrien, her face bushing impossibly red at that. Somehow, just throwing her arms to her sides felt wrong, so she rested one hand on his head, lightly caressing his hair and playing with his ears. He hummed in satisfaction and nuzzled her.

She chuckled, some of her nervousness going away. “You’re a cat, aren’t you?”

He just pointed to his fake ears, which wiggled as if they knew someone was talking about them. She giggled and continued her petting, nothing disturbing their little bubble—that was, until the shrill sound of a telephone interrupted them, making them both jump in surprise.  

Marinette rushed to her living room, her heart in her throat. She answered the phone, and she listened half-heartedly to what her mother had to say, casting glances over her shoulder to her bedroom. She had left the door slightly open, and she could see the ghost pacing around, suddenly restless. She smiled to herself—what an oddity Adrien Agreste was.

She hummed along her mother’s incessant yapping, trying to guess if she had called just to gossip about her customers or if she had something important to tell her. What felt like hours later, her mother finally told her what she had called for and she could finally hang up. She sighed, shaking her head. She loved her mother to bits, but she sometimes could be a handful.

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked behind her.

She turned around to look at him. He was leaning on the doorway, something that looked uncomfortable and awkward, but he managed to pull it off just fine. It was the model in him, she guessed.

“Yeah, don’t worry. It’s my mum; she asked if I could run some errands, so I need to go. I also needed to do some stuff for some Linked.” She frowned slightly in concern. “You were tired, right? If you’d rather stay here, it’s fine by me. It shouldn’t take long.”

He straightened up and shifted on the balls of his feet. “I want to go with you, if it’s okay.”

“Sure. Just let me grab my things.”

She went to her room and grabbed her pouch, making sure she had everything she needed with herself. Nodding to herself, she patted Tikki and Plagg’s heads in goodbye and joined Adrien, who was waiting for her at the door. He bowed theatrically and smirked playfully at her.

“After you, my Lady.”

“You just say that because you can’t open the door, _Chaton_.” She chuckled and bopped his nose. He stared at her finger, cross-eyed.

“ _Chaton_?”

She opened the door, and looked back at him. “Well, if you’re going to give me nicknames, I might as well do the same. Don’t you think so?”

“I agree.” He linked his arm with hers and grinned down at her. “Shall we go?”

She nodded, and, after locking the door behind her, both of them left her flat. It was sunny outside, quite strange for that time of the year. They walked side by side, Marinette listening to Adrien making small talk. They were in public, so she had to be careful to pretend she was alone. It was a bit embarrassing to be caught ‘talking to thin air’.

Marinette bought what her mother had asked her to, which were two loaves of bread. Adrien looked hungrily at the baguettes; she swatted his hand when he tried to get some.

“Stop it. They’re for tonight’s dinner. You can’t eat them.”

“I wasn’t going to get any bread. It’s a human object; I can’t touch it.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I’m a ghost, remember?”

She rolled her eyebrows. “I’ve seen enough spirits in my life to know that you can touch things if you put your mind into it, more so if I'm the one holding them.” She huffed. “It took a while to guess why Plagg kept on stealing food from my hands but didn’t care for the food lying around. I thought he was messing with me.”

“Well, Plagg looks like the kind of spirit that would like to mess with you regardless,” he grinned.

She puffed in defeat. “He would. He’s the Protector of mischief—wait, it was Lar, wasn’t it? I swear he lives for that name. Once—”

She interrupted herself when one woman started looking at her funny. Forcing a smile, she waved at her and walked faster, trying to put as much distance as possible between the woman and herself, dragging the invisible boy along. Once they— _she_ —were out of sight, she huffed, annoyed and started grumbling under her breath. Adrien looked torn between amusement and guilt.

“Trouble dealing with normal humans?” he asked, bumping his shoulders with hers.

She raised her hand in a sign to stop, and opened her pouch. Rummaging its contents, she took out a little mobile phone and brought it to her ear, shifting the bags uncomfortably.

“I always have trouble dealing with normal humans,” she huffed, “keeping up with appearances is hard.”

Adrien’s attention, however, was on the phone in her hand. “You’ve got a phone!”

She looked from him, to the phone, and shrugged.

“No, not really; it’s busted. It was my mother’s, but she broke it some months ago. She wanted to throw it away, but I managed to snatch it before she did. Now I use it to hide when I’m talking with spirits in public.”

“And does anyone notice anything weird?” he asked curiously.

She snorted. “You’d be surprised at the excuses people come up with to explain weird things around them. They see me talking to thin air and holding something in my hand, and I’m just a teenager talking to the phone.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It also helps that phones have gotten more popular nowadays. Maybe even I’ll have a working one soon; I’ve been saving up for a while.”

“That’s clever. I had one, but I didn’t use it very much. I only had one friend, so she was the only one to call me from time to time. Oh, and my father’s secretary when they were away, to remind me of my responsibilities.”

“What?” she turned to look at him. “You only had one friend?”

He rubbed his nape uncomfortably. “Well, yeah. I was a bit… sheltered.”

“That’s an understatement,” she deadpanned.

They kept on talking while they walked, Marinette using Adrien as a support when her arm got too tired of holding the phone. Soon enough, they turned to a little alley. Outside the main street, the passersby had reduced a great deal. Adrien followed Marinette, not sure about where she was taking them.

Marinette was looking around when she spotted what she was looking for. They approached a little girl sitting on the floor, her black leotard legs crossed Indian-style, and humming to herself carefree. The ethereal blue aura surrounding her was unmistakable—she was a Linked, as Marinette liked to call them.

When they were about to reach her, she spotted them, and sprung up in one swift movement. She smiled widely at them, and began waving enthusiastically.

“Mlle Ladybug! You came back!” She eyed the bag she was carrying hungrily and bounced on her feet. “Did you bring what I asked for?”

“Good afternoon, Colette. And yes, I brought them.”

After shooting a smile to the ghost girl, she took a little box from the bag she was carrying, and presented it with a little flourish. She placed the box on Colette’s hands, and opened the lid, showing six delicious-looking macarons. The little girl’s eyes glinted in delight.

“Six macarons, as you asked. And coming from no other than the best bakery of Paris!”

Colette grabbed a vanilla-flavoured macaron and brought it closer to her face. She sniffed it once and nipped it, her mouth shaping in a huge grin once she got a taste of it. She wolfed down the pastry and grabbed a chocolate one and gave it the same treatment.

“They’re delicious, miss! Just as mama said!”

Marinette nodded and ruffled her hair. “I know, right?”

“Yes!” She grabbed another one and munched happily on the treat. “Do you want one, Mlle Ladybug? And your cat friend?”

“Oh, we’ll share one, if you don’t mind.”

Marinette took one of the treats left in the box, and split it in two. She handed one half to Adrien, who was looking the pastry with hunger in his eyes, and nibbled her half in delight. They really were the best macarons she’d had in awhile.

Meanwhile, Colette had finished her last macaron, and was handing the empty box to Marinette. She dusted off her leotards, and smiled brightly at them.

“Thank you, Mlle Ladybug. I’m glad I could taste mama’s favourite pastry. There’s nothing else I want. I can go now.”

She nodded. “I’m glad I could help you. I’m sure you’ll find Noir in the afterlife.”

“You think so? He looked really bad the last time I saw him. Maybe he’s still ill and doesn’t want to play anymore.”

Marinette crouched down so she was eye-level with the little girl. “I know so. He’s going to be super happy to see you again, I’m sure of it.”

The girl squealed and threw her arms around Marinette, who accepted the hug immediately. She rubbed her head in her shoulder and giggled happily. Her aura changed from the soft blues to golden threads, shining softly in the deserted alley.

“Thank you, Mlle Ladybug.” She looked up at Adrien and smiled at him. “And thank you, M Chat. Bye-bye.”

“Bye-bye, my little butterfly.”

Softly, Colette’s essence began disappearing until it burst in tiny lights, which danced around them like little fireflies before disappearing one by one. Adrien looked around, enraptured by the magical scene around them. In all his existence as a ghost, he had never seen something like that. It was enchanting.

Marinette stood up from her crouch, and hummed in satisfaction. “This is my favourite part.”

He turned to look at her. “Is it always like this?”

“Usually, yeah. When I manage to satisfy their needs, that is.”

“It’s admirable.”

She looked to the ground, sheepishly. “It’s nothing special.”

“It is!” he exclaimed, and Marinette looked at him, startled. He placed both hands on her shoulders. “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve seen in my… well, existence. Don’t doubt yourself, Marinette.”

After Marinette squeaked a soft ‘okay’, both teenagers pulled apart, not having noticed exactly how close they were one from the other. Marinette picked up the empty box of macarons and disposed of it, and they continued their walk around Paris. In the busiest streets she had to pick up her phone again, but they managed to go around without making anyone else suspicious.

“Colette died two weeks ago,” Marinette started. Adrien stopped looking at some random postcards to give her his full attention. “She was with her dog Noir.”

“What happened?”

“She was walking her dog when she got run over by a car. Both of them died. Her mother, some metres away from her, saw it all.” She sighed. “Her mother had promised to buy her macarons after their walk, that’s why it was her last wish.”

Adrien let out his breath in a whoosh. “I can’t imagine what it feels like to see someone you love die in front of you. It has to be heart-breaking.”

“It is.”

Both walked in silence, lost in their own thoughts. After a while, Adrien spoke up again. “I’m still waiting for you to ask me how I died.”

Marinette let her breath out her nose at the sudden question. She hugged the bag closer, avoiding making eye contact with him. Sobering up, she tried to think of how to answer him,

“I consider it’s better to let people tell you in time, instead of nagging. It’s usually a sore topic for the dead.”

“Seems fair. Did the papers say anything about my death?”

She shrugged. “Only that it was an accident. M Agreste decided to keep it hush-hush.”

“Well, you’re not wrong in that. It _was_ an accident; a really stupid one, to be honest.” He rubbed his head in discomfort. “Basically, _I_ was the stupid one.”

Marinette glanced back at him, and couldn’t suppress her tiny smile. “What did you do?”

“I…” he closed his mouth and shook his head, sending her a sheepish look. “Okay. So, Father was making me go through this strict diet that all these celebrities were following. Now, I’d never needed to go on a diet, but Father started freaking out about changes of metabolism and such, and he felt he needed to control what I ate. And that meant I ended up eating very little.”

“What? You were a teenager! You’re meant to eat a lot!” She frowned. “Models are getting thinner and thinner nowadays. What is the fashion industry thinking?”

He shrugged. “Beats me. So, anyway, I had been a week since I had started my diet, and I had just come back home from a 3-days photoshoot. I was exhausted, but I wanted to do something that didn’t involve sleeping or looking pretty, for once. So I started playing around in my room, and my eyes rested on my rock-climbing wall.”

“You had a _rock-climbing wall_ in your room?” she exclaimed.

He just shrugged again. Marinette gaped openly at him, but quickly averted her gaze forward, trying to look as normal as possible. She couldn’t stop herself from huffing at the thought, though.

“No matter. What happened then?”

“Well, I started climbing up. It had been a while since I had time to myself, and I wanted to burn up some energy. But it seemed that I had taken my exhaustion and hunger too lightly, and when I was halfway through I got dizzy. My hands slipped, and I fell to the floor, headfirst.”

Marinette gasped horrified. “That’s terrible, Adrien! I’m sorry.”

He bumped shoulders with her, and shot her a smile. It looked strained to her. “It wasn’t your fault. Anyway, I don’t actually remember the fall; I think I fainted before I hit the floor. I didn’t have any traumatic experiences that could turn me into a troubled spirit, so you don’t need to worry about me.”

“You know it’s not that.” She glared at him.

Silence fell between them. Marinette didn’t know what else to say about the matter, or how to console him. She racked her mind to find something to say, but she got side-tracked, as her eyes landed on a park’s entry. She leaded Adrien there, and both sat down on one of the benches.

The park was deserted, as the sun had started to set and wind had picked up slightly. Marinette sighed in relief; she didn’t have to pretend to talk on the telephone anymore. She rested her head on the backrest and closed her eyes, basking on the warmth of the last sunrays of the day.

She heard a sigh beside her, and soon enough, she felt soft pressure on her thighs. She opened her eyes slightly and saw Adrien resting on her legs again, a content smile on his face. She resumed her petting subconsciously, playing with the boy’s soft strands, earning a soft hum from him. His ears shifted, almost calling for her attention, and she traced their contour softly. The soft leather seemed to tremble under her fingertips.

“Do you have any regrets?” she whispered, not wanting to break the spell they had fallen into.

Adrien opened his eyes. He looked slightly confused at first, but she noticed when realisation dawned on him. His head shifted to the side as he looked towards a playground. The swings swayed softly with the wind, their rusted hinges screeching softly at the movement.

“Everyone has regrets in the end,” he finally answered, “mine just weren’t strong enough to leave me stranded. Well, of course I wanted to keep on living but… it was a relief, too. Kind of.”

Her hand stopped moving. “What do you mean?”

“My last year was rough. For years, my father started getting really distant, and he started packing my schedule with photoshoots and way too many extracurricular activities. I saw less and less of him, until the only way I had to talk to him was via phone. My childhood friend died eight months before I did, so I had no one to talk to.” He let out a shaky sigh. “I was really alone back then.”

He fell silent, and Marinette resumed her caressing, reminding him that he was there now, with her. He shot her a grateful smile.

He took a deep breath and continued. “I was pretty tired of it all, so in a sense, yeah, it was a relief. I…” He paused, and swallowed the lump in his throat. “I miss it, being alive, and I miss my father, but… without Chloé there… sadly enough, I think that was my only way out.”

Marinette let out her breath slowly, trying not to alert the boy resting on her legs. His eyes were glazed over, lost in thought, and his mouth was pulled down in a little grimace. Marinette wanted to erase that frown from his face, but she knew it would be way harder than smoothing it with her fingers.

“I wonder…” he started, but his voice died in his throat.

“What is it?”

He blinked, and turned to look at her. “I’d just like to know if he’s alright. My dad, I mean. I didn’t want to… you know… _die_. I was the only one he had left, and now he’s alone. I don’t want him to be alone.”

She ran her hand from his shoulder to his hand, which she squeezed. Adrien looked up at her again, and intertwined their fingers. Marinette’s breath caught at the raw intensity she could see in his eyes. Her heart started pounding madly, but it was different than her celebrity crush stunts. No, this was more intense, a feeling that made her feel warm from head to toe, eager for more but terrified at the mere prospect of advancing.

Her eyes trailed around his face. He was finally showing everything he’d tried to hide behind that easy-going smile of his. His loneliness and longing tugged at her heartstrings, and she only wanted to envelop him in a huge hug and never let go of him.

Instead, Marinette cupped the back of his head gently and made him sit up. He blinked, startled when she sprung up, left her purse and the bag on the bench and rushed to the kid’s park. She turned around to look at him, hands clasped on her back and leaning slightly forward. Her crooked smile was daring.

“Adrien! Let’s go play for a bit!”

He stared at her, perplexed. “What?”

“Come on, _Chaton_! It’s been ages since I’ve been to one of these!”

She bounced on her feet and turned around, heading directly to the roundabout. She jumped on it, and pushed the metal structure with one leg. The roundabout protested at the movement but started spinning. Marinette giggled heartily, her hands gripping the rusty metal. However, the roundabout had started to slow down, and Adrien stood up, ready to push her some more.

When Adrien was about to clasp his hands on the roundabout, Marinette jumped off it. She rushed to the jungle gym, shooting him cheeky glances, and Adrien followed behind. She wanted to challenge him, huh? A challenge she would have, then.

She started climbing the sturdy ropes to the top of the jungle gym, keeping an eye on him. Once he started catching up to her, she dropped down one of the holes, as she was thin enough to go through them, and she caught herself in the ropes of lower levels. She started to get out from the side, but Adrien quickly went to the edge and hung himself by his knees, trying to catch her before she left. She retracted her arms before he could touch her, though, and smirked up at him.

“So this is what we’re playing at, right?”

He smirked back. “You started it, my Lady.”

“Well, let’s see if you can catch me, _Chaton_.”

Marinette snuck to the other side of the jungle gym, and Adrien rushed there, making sure she didn’t escape. However, she feinted and rushed to a completely new direction, catching him off guard. Grunting, he propelled himself to the side, hanging on a rope as he blocked her way with his feet.

Chuckling darkly, she grabbed one of his feet and tugged down. Adrien caught himself with a loud ‘oof!’, grabbing the ropes for dear life. She used that opportunity to rush to the other side, and he had no other choice but sneak inside too. He cursed at the tight ropes slowing him down, the holes being a bit too little on him. In little time, he got stuck inside. He looked around, trying to find the hole he’d gone through, but he couldn’t find it.

Marinette stared at him at the edge of the jungle gym, torn between worry and amusement. Slowly, as if mocking him, she got out of the jungle gym and climbed to the top, settling herself in some ropes. Her feet were hanging mere centimetres away from him, but he couldn’t reach them. Blasted ropes.

He was about to give up, when he realised something. He was no human, was he? He was a ghost. He could go through things. So he reached upwards, his arm going through the sturdy ropes with no resistance, and clasped his hand on her ankle. She managed to yelp before he dragged her down.

She glared at him. “Hey! using your ghost powers isn’t fair!”

“Everything’s fair in love and war, Princess.”                                                                                          

She harrumphed but got settled just slightly above him. Now that both had stopped moving, he could feel the cool breeze on his skin. He saw Marinette shiver and hugging herself.

“Are you cold?”

She nodded. “Now that we stopped, a little. I regret leaving my jacket with the bags.”

“Let’s get out of here, then. It’s a bit too cramped for my taste.”

He started making his way out, not bothering to keep himself corporeal. He just wanted to get out of there.

Marinette chuckled at his rush. “But I thought cats liked cramped spaces? Yet you’re almost hissing at the ropes.”

“Not this cat, Marinette.” He finally made it outside, and stretched his hand towards her. “Here.”

She grabbed his hand gratefully, and he helped her get out of the jungle gym. They walked hand in hand to the bench, and Marinette put on her cardigan. She sighed in satisfaction.

“Do you want to leave?” Adrien asked.

Marinette shook her head. “Not yet. Hang with me at the swings?”

She grabbed her bags and they headed to the swings. Marinette placed the bags on the floor, resting against the metal structure, and sat on one of the swings. She swayed softly, her feet never leaving the floor. Adrien sat next to her, looking forward.

“Your father mourned you.”

Adrien turned his head to look at her. Marinette had her gaze trained to the floor, where her feet were playing with the dirt. She took a deep breath and kept on talking.

“He spent half a year without releasing any collections. Ads stopped coming, he refused to give any interviews, and the Agreste line stopped producing clothing altogether. He came back a month ago, though, and everything went on as normal.” She stopped moving and looked up to the twilight. “I’ve read he’s training a new promising designer.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I heard they were related, but I don’t remember his name.”

Adrien fell silent, deep in thought. After a while, he spoke up. “I think I remember something like that. Before I… passed away, he said something about a relative that had started working for him. He’s my second cousin, I think.”

“Did you meet him?”

He hummed. “Yeah, once or twice. He was nice, if a bit awkward. He always carried his sketchbook around, and was very serious around adults, but he managed to relax a bit around me. Well, I think he did. I was eight when I met him. It was clear that he didn’t know how to behave around kids.”

“He sounds like a good man.”

“He is. I’m glad father could find support in him.”

“I’m glad, too.”

Marinette took impulse and jumped off the swing, landing neatly a meter ahead. She reached for her bags and turned to Adrien, extending her hand towards him.

“Should we go, _Chaton?_ ”

He nodded, and they joined hands. She tugged at him and he stood up, joining her side instantly. They walked in a comfortable silence, the people around them keeping them from talking much. The street lights started to switch on, and the busy city started to calm down.

Marinette couldn’t believe everything that had happened that afternoon. Well, she wasn’t really sure she had really gotten her head around everything that had happened after Adrien appeared before her. He had managed to turn everything she’d believed in until then upside-down.

But what amazed her more was that he came back. He had seen something in her that had made him come back to her. He had come back, and he had told her personal matters she’d never expected to hear. He hid his pain in a bright smile and looked for solace in her touch. He was charming but sincere, playful but sensible. There was still a lot of secrets between them, but Marinette was enjoying discovering them little by little, like uncovering a good mystery.

They finally arrived to her home. The lights on the second floor were already on, so her parents should be inside; it would be no good if she turned up talking to herself again. She turned to Adrien and let go of his hand, not having realised until then that they had had their hands clasped together all the way back. She hugged the bag she was carrying, a sudden shyness filling her.

“I… I better get going. My family’s waiting for me.”

He clasped his hands behind his back and smiled at her. “Better not make them wait anymore. Have nice dreams, princess.”

“Will I…” She muttered, looking to the side. “Will I see you again?”

He grinned saucily at her. “Oh, absolutely. I might as well start hunting you; this way you won’t be able to get rid of me.”

“Is that a challenge, _Chaton_? You’ve already seen I know a teensy bit about ghosts. Don’t make me exorcise you.”

Adrien just chuckled at her answer. He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips, softly kissing her knuckles. In the whole process, his eyes were fixed on hers, and his green irises seemed to glint mystically in the night.

“Good night, Marinette. I’ll see you soon.”

The corners of her mouth quirked up. “Night, Adrien. I’ll make sure to have cookies for you then.”

He grinned at that, and with a flash of light, he disappeared. Marinette dropped her hand to her side, trying to slow down her heartbeat. That boy was going to be the death of her. He had to stop being so suave sometimes.

Reminding herself that it was quite late, she snapped out of it and opened the main door, making her way to the living room. She could already smell her mum’s cooking, and her mouth started watering. Right; with all her adventures, she hadn’t realised she hadn’t eaten for a while. She felt ravenous.

She climbed up the stairs, lost in her own thoughts. Had her parents brought her another trinket from the shop? Would it be enchanted? It had been a while since her parents unknowingly brought a ghost to their home. It would be fun trying to deal with the invisible spirit while pretending to be normal for her parents.

Her mind went back to the devilishly handsome ghost that had decided to haunt her. It looked like she was going to have her hands full for a while.


	3. Candlelight

Marinette was surprised to admit that she had gotten used to Adrien’s visits in just a month. He started visiting her almost every day, until his presence in Marinette’s daily life felt almost natural. The tingling she felt whenever he was about to appear had become familiar, a warm greeting that only anticipated another good afternoon in his company.

It was strange, she thought, how someone she was just starting to know could become the highlight of her day. The boy had proven to be very charming, a good listener, and his puns were even funny, sometimes—something she would never admit to him. He already said way too many puns for it to be sane.

That day, Marinette was staring at her sketchbook, balancing a pencil on the space between her nose and lips, and trying to come up with something to doodle. That was, of course, until she felt that familiar sensation running through her.

Putting—more like throwing—the sketchbook aside, she stood up and headed to the kitchen. Once she got there, she started piling up cookies in a clean dish, and left to her room again, eager to see him again. She just made it to the door to see him appear in front of her, facing the other way. He looked around in confusion, spotting her in no time.

Adrien smiled brightly at her. “ _Salut_ , Marinette! How has your day been?”

Marinette placed the dish on the chaise and sat down beside it, being careful not to spill the contents.

She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s been a bit boring, to be completely honest. School has been, well, _school_ , and there hasn’t been any ghost-related errands to take care of recently.” She nodded at her sketchbook, the blank page glaring back at her. “Even my muse has taken a vacation. If this keeps going on, I’ll turn crazy.”

“Come on, I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He sat beside her, throwing an arm on top of the backrest and looking every bit of the model that he was. “I’d have actually loved to go to school when I was alive. If you want to know what boredom is really like, be home-schooled all your life. It didn’t matter how much I tried, it was completely impossible to get my tutor to talk about something not related to our classes. She didn’t even appreciate my jokes.”

She patted his head jokingly. “Oh, poor _Chaton_. Do you think it was the jokes what truly made her wary of bonding with you?”

“Har, har,” he raised an eyebrow. “I’ll let you know that my puns are quality comedy content.”

“Well, I could do with less of those.”

He glared playfully at her, then leaned back on the chaise, his arms folded behind his back. “Well then, I guess that if you don’t _apurreciate_ my _puntastic_ puns, this cat should go someone else. See who else saves you of this unending boredom, then.”

Marinette cocked her head, as if deep in thought, and grabbed the plate of cookies between them. She grabbed one of the cookies and started nibbling at it, enjoying the sugary taste.

“Well, I guess that means more cookies for Tikki and me. Those are the perks of not having to share with sweet-toothed spirits.”

 Adrien’s cat ears actually dropped, and he looked so forlorn that she had to restrain herself from bursting out laughing. She grabbed one cookie and handed it to him, wiggling it in front of his face, and she couldn’t help but giggle when his whole face actually brightened.

He bit into it, and he almost purred. “I swear I can’t go on with these cookies. They’re too good to be true. I’m glad you didn’t break the tradition, Marinette.”

“What tradition?”

“The cookie-sharing tradition.”

“We started sharing cookies when, two weeks ago? How is that even a tradition? We’ve literally known each other for a month.”

Adrien gasped, and in the blink of an eye, he had snatched the dish from her lap and held it out of her reach. He grabbed one cookie and bit into it, a satisfied hum escaping from his lips.

“There are no cookies for people who disregard the traditions of this house.”

“Hey! It’s my house! And those are my cookies!”

Marinette reached for the dish of cookies, but Adrien just got it more out of her reach, stretching his arm away. Already set in her mission to retrieve the goods, she leaned on him, pushing his arm down and using his shoulders as an anchor to reach for the dish. Adrien refused to give up, though, and he leaned down on the chaise, pushing Marinette down with his free hand.

Finally, Marinette managed to crawl all over Adrien until she reached the dish. She grabbed four cookies for her, and another one for Tikki, who was looking at them amusedly. She got off him and handed the cookie to Tikki, who started wolfing it down with delight.

“So,” Adrien said, reaching for another cookie, “what are we doing today?”

Marinette huffed, letting herself drop beside him. “I don’t know.”

Adrien looked her over, releasing a soft sigh. He leaned forward, studying her face meticulously.

“What?” she asked, feeling a blush coming to her cheeks.

“You look tired.”

Marinette crossed her arms self-consciously. “I-I‘m fine.”

“You’re not. You’re stressed out. It’s all over your face.”

She slumped on the seat. “… maybe I am, a little bit. But I haven’t been doing anything this afternoon, so I don’t know why…?”

“One thing is having free time and another thing is letting yourself relax; you seem to have problems with the second one. I can help you with that, if you wish.”

After some thinking, she nodded. “Why not? We don’t have anything else to do.”

“Perfect!” Adrien clapped his hands in enthusiasm. “You’ll be the most relaxed you’ve ever been in your life. Now, do you have candles? It’s better if they’re scented.”

Marinette looked at him weirdly, but got up to look for the candles. After rummaging her mother’s cabinets, she found an arrange candles of different sizes and scents. She took them back to her room, and watched Adrien place them strategically around the room. After trying to grab the lighter thrice, phasing through it instead, Marinette took pity on him and handed it to him.

Adrien started lighting up the candles carefully, making sure he didn’t drop the lighter.

“Could you lower the blinds?” he asked, lighting the last candles.

Marinette did as she was asked. When the blinds where completely down, she took in the sight of her room. The candlelight illuminated the room with a soft orange hue, the little fires making up constellations in every available surface. The vanilla smell reached her then, and she took a deep breath, taking it all in. It was beautiful.

Adrien sat on the chaise sideways, and tapped the space in front of him, inviting. Marinette sat in front of him, and looked back at him expectantly.

“Turn around, Princess.”

Marinette complied, turning around. “Are you giving me a massage, _Chaton_?”

“Not quite. Can I untie your hair?”

“Wait.” She turned around again to look at him. “Did we set all this so you could do my hair? Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Of course!” He pouted. “Chloé and I did this all the time, when we were little. I’m almost the master of braids and ponytails, at this point.” He placed a hand on his chest theatrically. “You won’t be able to find someone who can do upside-down braids better than I do.”

Marinette looked at him sceptically. She found that hard to believe. However, he looked so earnest, with his wide smile and pleading eyes, that she caved in seconds. Damn puppy eyes.

She turned around again, undoing her pigtails. As soon as she dropped her hands to her lap, she felt Adrien’s fingers running through her hair, untangling it. She couldn’t help but hum when his fingertips started massaging her, relaxing her in the matter nape of seconds. She leaned slightly on his touch, and she heard a soft chuckle beside her.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, my Lady.”

“I’ll try not to. What are doing, braids or ponytail?”

“Braids. Is that alright?”

She hummed. “Yeah. But only if I get to braid your hair in return.”

“Deal.”

Adrien massaged her head some more, then started separating her hair in two halves. Marinette felt his nimble fingers dancing around her threads, knotting his hair securely but with care at the same time. Huh, so he hadn’t been bluffing when he said he knew what he was doing.

Marinette closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Adrien tilted her head slightly to the side, and started humming a soft melody while he was working.

“This brings back so many memories,” he said, after a while. “Whenever Chloé was bored, she would steal some candles from his father’s cabinets and scatter them around her room. She said she had seen it in a movie, so we _had_ to do it the same. Then, she would demand me to do her hair, and would complain so much if there was even one single hair out of place.”

“She sounds like a handful,” she commented with a smile.

He chuckled. “Gods, she was. The brattiest girl you’d ever meet… but she wasn’t a bad person, far from it. We went way back, she and I. There was a lot behind that childish act.” He sighed. “She was just as lonely as I was at that point. We just dealt with it in different ways.”

Adrien tied the first braid carefully, checking that it wouldn’t undo itself too fast. He nodded to himself and started with the other half of her hair, running his fingers through her hair to comb it again.

“Chloé made my childhood bearable. We even had fun, from time to time. She would always carry _Doudou Malin_ around _,_ her favourite teddy bear, and she would let me play with it when she was feeling gracious, or when she braided my hair. However, she wasn’t as good braiding as I am, so mother had to spend hours trying to untangle my hair afterwards.”

Marinette listened silently to his words, not failing to notice the tint of fondness and nostalgia in his words. She started playing absentmindedly with the end of the braid.

“Did you guys keep playing with your hair when you were older?”

“From time to time. As we got older… we grew apart, and we didn’t hang out as much as before. Chloé turned a bit harsh, and… well, she ended up refusing to listen to me when I told her she was doing something wrong. And then… then I lost my chance to tell her anything at all.”

Adrien fell silent at that. Marinette bit her lip in hesitation. It was pretty easy to deduce what had happened to his friend, considering his words. She placed a hand on his hand in consolation, not knowing what else to do to sheer him up.

“I’m sorry, Adrien.”

She saw him shake his head from the corner of her eye. “It doesn’t matter. It’s been a long time since then.”

“That doesn’t mean it hurts less.”

“That’s true. Back then, it was pretty rough. I felt very alone but it’s much better now. I don’t feel lonely anymore.” He leaned forward and rested his forehead on the back of her neck. “Thanks for listening to me. It helps a lot.”

“Thank you for telling me, Chaton.”

Adrien smiled in answer. He tied the second braid with another tie and looked at them, pensive. “Well, it’s done. It’s not my best work, but I’m a bit out of practice. Next time I’ll be way better than this.”

Marinette reached for her braids, feeling with her fingertips the intricate knots her hair was tied into. Wanting to see them better, she stood up and headed to her tiny mirror, turning her head slightly so she could get a look at the elaborate pattern.

 She looked back at him, mouth agape. “You really _are_ good at this.”

Adrien folded his arms proudly. “Told you I was. They suit you, by the way.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him.

Marinette returned to the chaise and sat beside him. Adrien grinned at her, and he leaned down, throwing himself to her lap. Marinette looked down in surprise, arms up in the air, as Adrien nuzzled her thighs and closed his eyes. He purred in satisfaction.

“W-what are you doing?”

 “Claiming my payment. This cat would like some pats in exchange of the perfect craftmanship of your hair.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, do you now?”

“Yep.” He nuzzled her again and sighed, content. “It’s a pretty cheap price to pay for my talent, if I say so myself, but I don’t mind.”

Marinette giggled at his silly antics, and brought her hands down. She started playing with Adrien’s hair, sinking her fingers in his wild mane, and the boy’s smile widened. How could his hair be so soft, she wondered, as she started combing his hair with her fingers. It was really was as fluffy as it looked, like the fur of a puppy… or a kitten, she supposed.

She started massaging his cat ears, and she was surprised to see they were warm at touch. She could feel the material pulsating against her fingertips, almost as if they were really alive, part of himself.

“Do you feel your ears?” she asked aloud.

He opened one of his eyes. “Yep. My tail too.”

She looked down to his sash, and she could see his cloth tail swaying lazily behind him, akin to a cat’s. now that she thought about it, it was strange, wasn’t it? She had never seen a human spirit with animal features before, but… well, Adrien had shown her that there was way more in the spiritual world than what she’d known, that there was way more to learn.

It was oddly thrilling, to be completely honest.

Half-jokingly, she started plaiting his hair like he did to her before, combing his hair with her fingers once again to make sure she didn’t hurt him.

“So…” she started, not being able to contain her curiosity anymore, “how come do you have cat traits?”

“I’m not sure, really,” he answered, eyes still closed. “They were there already when I got up, and no one bothered to tell me why. Everyone has them, where I come from. If I had to make a guess to why we have them, I would say it’s a distinction between us and other ghosts. Like a trademark, you know? Or maybe they’re additional traits that helps us with our tasks.”

“How so?”

He shrugged. “In my community, it’s pretty well-known that these features give us different strengths… quirks, if you may. Loyalty and endless energy of the dog, persistence and strength of the horse, and, well, the flexibility and instincts of the cat.”

“And the laziness, for sure.”

Adrien’s eyes opened and pursed his lips. “Hey, I resent that.”

“Just kidding, just kidding.” She waited for him to settle down on her lap again. “And what exactly do you do in Purgatory?”

“Oh, this and that.” He shrugged casually. “I just complete the tasks they assign me, and help around as much as I can. It gives me the permission to shift between Earth and Purgatory, which I’m thankful for, and it lets me have both the time and an excuse to pay you a visit. It’s the best job to have around in Purgatory, to be frank.”

“Why is it the best job, because you get an excuse to stroll in different worlds and laze around whenever you want?”

He shook his head, making the unfinished braid in her hands slip from her fingers. He turned his head slightly, so he was facing her fully, and gave her the wickedest smirk Marinette had ever seen. It was on the verge of being sinful. His eyes were boring into her, shining almost unnaturally. Marinette felt breathless.

“It’s the best job because it brought me to you, my Princess.”

Marinette squawked at his words. His smoulder turned more teasing, and he actually chuckled when Marinette covered her face, hiding away from him.

“Marinette, are you blushing?” he teased.

“No!” She squealed.

“You are!” he exclaimed with something that sounded like awe in his voice.

Adrien shifted and sat down, trying to get a look of her face. Marinette turned to the side, trying to avoid him as much as she could. However, she felt his hands cradling her face and turning it towards him. She didn’t drop her hands from her face, though, so she kept most of it stubbornly out of sight.

“Hey, Marinette, that’s not fair. You can’t hide your face from me.”

“You watch me!”

“Come on, my Lady. Don’t be like that.”

She could practically hear him pouting. She felt the corners of her mouth turning up, but she immediately pursed her lips, hiding her smile. However, it seemed she hadn’t been fast enough.

“I saw that!” he exclaimed triumphally.

“You saw nothing.”

“You smiled.”

“No, I didn’t.”

Adrien made a pause. “You didn’t, huh…”

Marinette dropped her hands from her face just to see his evil grin before he pounced. His fingers found their way to her sides, and started tickling her ruthlessly. She started laughing and shrieking, begging him to stop, but Adrien kept on going until there were tears in her eyes, and she couldn’t breathe.

He finally let her go, and Marinette could finally catch a breath. She lied on the chaise, chest heaving in exhaustion, and a smile still decorating her face. Adrien smirked down at her in satisfaction, nodding to himself. He lied on top of her again, looking down at her with a Cheshire smile.

“There it is! A cute smile from a cute girl.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. She lied down until she could breathe normally, looking at the ceiling. She still couldn’t get her head around him being here, with her. It was kind of surreal, she thought, that he kept coming back again and again, when he had better things to do. If she had been a ghost with the ability to shift between words, she would be visiting all kind of places, not here, stuck with her.

He had said he was thankful of getting his job because this way he had met her, but was that really true? Had he been sincere when he was talking before, or had he been just joking?

“Say, Adrien…”

“Hm?” He looked down to her.

She shook her head, immediately regretting talking. “Never mind.”

“What is it, Marinette? I want to know,” he insisted.

“It’s just… you said before that visiting me was one of the bright sides of your job, and it got me thinking. I’m… I’m glad you come visit me every day, although you could do some more interesting things to do. What I meant to say is… you don’t have to feel obligated to come here, you know?”

“Marinette…” he trailed off.

Marinette felt his fingers support her chin, and he tilted her face, so she would face him fully. She was surprised to see how serious he looked. Adrien was always jokes and cheerfulness; he had never looked like that before. She could just look at him, waiting for him to keep going, not even knowing what to say, or do.

“Marinette, listen to me. You’re more special than you believe. You’re a human that can see ghosts, for crying out loud! I feel _honoured_ for having had the chance to meet you.” He smiled softly at her. “I’ll show you how special you are, even if it takes me years to do so.”

Marinette averted her gaze in shyness, but she couldn’t help to smile at his words. It felt nice to have someone appreciating her. Grinning in satisfaction, Adrien buried his head on her stomach, reaching blindly for her hands. Once his hand met hers, he brought it to his head.

“Can you keep petting me, Marinette?”

She chuckled. She brought her other hand to his hair, and she started playing with it. She breathed deeply, and hummed at the soft smell of vanilla coming from the candles. That with the soft lighting and the warmth coming from the body on top of him, she felt herself dozing off, finally fully relaxed.

The door of her room suddenly opened, the bang being so loud in the quiet chamber that almost made Marinette fall to the floor in surprise, if it wasn’t for Adrien lying on top of her. She looked up, her hand in her chest, just to see her mother look around in distaste. She turned on the lights, making Marinette wince with the sudden brightness.

“Marinette, why are you lying around in the dark like this?” her mother complained, blowing off the candles scattered around her room. “You will end up blind if you stay like this for so long. And let’s not talk about the fire hazard! Why are you lighting so many candles?”

Marinette couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She would die sooner from a heart attack caused from her, if she kept walking into her room like that.

“I was just relaxing, _Maman_. The candles set up the mood.”

“Well, if you want to set up the mood so much, listen to some music. It’s too dangerous to have that many candles lit up. What if you fall asleep with them on?”

“You almost did fall asleep when I was combing your hair, after all, Marinette,” Adrien teased, resting his chin on his folded arms.

Marinette glared at him. “ _You’re not helping_ ,” she hissed.

Her mother turned to look at her. “Did you say something?”

“Not at all!”

Adrien started laughing at that, and Marinette threw a dirty look his way when her mother wasn’t looking. She waited patiently for her to blow off all the candles, trying with all her might not to answer Adrien verbally. It was getting more and more difficult by the second, as he kept on taunting her playfully.

But, oh no, she wasn’t going to cave in so easily. She had years of experience dealing with pesky ghosts in public. She could ignore Adrien as much as she wanted.

Finally, her mother finished going around her room, and looked at her, hands on her hips. “Well, then. If you have time to lie around, please go to the supermarket and buy some vegetables for tonight's dinner. Oh, and clean up this mess.”

After saying that, her mother left her room, closing the door after her. Marinette dropped her head on the pillow and sighed in relief. Adrien started laughing again, and Marinette glared at him. She suddenly got up from the chaise, making Adrien stumble and fall to the floor. She threw at him a victorious smirk, and started picking the candles scattered around the room.

“Get ready, _Chaton_ , the lazy time’s over. We need to do some errands around town.”

Adrien rolled to his back, and looked up at Marinette from the floor. “Sorry about that, by the way. I wanted you to relax, not to have more chores to do.”

Chuckling slightly, Marinette kneeled down in front of him and bopped his nose. “It’s not your fault, Adrien. I feel super relaxed and extra energetic, and it’s all thanks to you!” She then sat down and nuzzled his shoulder. “I kind of saw that coming, either way. You know I usually run some errands at this time.”

“But still, I’m sorry. It was pretty funny, I’m not going to lie, but I’m still sorry.”

Marinette shook her head in amusement as she got up again, patting the back of her pants which had been in touch with the floor. She finished picking up all the candles, returning them to her mother’s cabinet when the wax was dry enough. When she went back to her room, Adrien was already waiting for her, standing beside her pouch.

“Let’s go, Chaton.”

Marinette picked up her purse and Adrien’s hand, and made her way to the exit. She stopped by the living room to drop a peck on her mother’s cheek. Before leaving her side, though, her mother handed her a sticky note.

“Here’s what you need to buy, sweetie. And don’t forget the carrots, do you hear me? I know you don’t like them, but your father does, so don’t be a child and bring them, okay? You’ll be going back to the store if you don’t.”

Marinette huffed. “ _Fine._ ”

“See you later!”

Marinette rolled her eyes. Joining Adrien’s side again, they both made it outside. Marinette linked her arm with his and immediately picked up her broken phone, bringing it to her ear.

“So…” Adrien began.

“What?”

“Your mother is quite the woman, isn’t she?”

Marinette shrugged. “She’s been the most headstrong woman I’ve ever known.” She pouted, remembering her previous remark. “… and the most embarrassing.”

Adrien chuckled. “That sounds like a good mother to me.”

Marinette nodded, a soft smile on her face. “She is.” She then got the sticky note out of her pocket and made a face. “Well, let’s got to do the groceries. And buy carrots. Ugh.”

Adrien laughed at her reaction, and both of them made their way to the store. Halfway there, however, it started pouring, so they started running to take cover. They stopped at a bus stop and Marinette took cover, trying to shake away the rain before it soaked her, and Adrien shook his head, making his hair stick up in all directions.

Marinette snorted at his wild look. “You’re a ghost, Adrien. Shouldn’t the rain pass through you?”

“I was touching you, Marinette. You ground me to Earth, and things from this world can interact with my spirit.”

“Whoops! Sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all.

He shrugged with a smile on his face. “I don’t mind. It feels nice to feel the rain again, after so long.”

Marinette smiled to herself. She sat down on the bench and looked at Adrien as he stood under the rain, watching the droplets hit his skin until they started to go through him. He shook his head again, shaking off the remaining water on his hair, and his eyes landed on an open umbrella being pushed by the wind, rolling their way. His face brightened up.

“An umbrella!”

He rushed to get it, but the umbrella rolled past through him. Marinette burst out laughing when she saw his confused face. With a determined nod, he ran past it, reaching for it several times and going through it, until his hands clasped on the handle. He cheered in triumph, and rose the umbrella up to the skies.

“Marinette! I got it!”

She covered her mouth with a hand. “I can see that.”

Adrien walked towards the bus stop proudly, umbrella in hand. Shaking it a bit to shake away the drops clinging to the material, he stopped in front of her and covered her head with it. Marinette looked up in surprise, and the warmth coming from Adrien’s eyes took her breath away.

“Here,” he said in a whisper.

The strong noise of the rain falling around them drowned her heart beating wildly on her chest. Feeling herself being in almost a trance, she reached for the umbrella, hesitating before clasping her hands around the handle. In all this time, Adrien just kept looking at her with such a sweet smile that made her mind go blank, and feel butterflies in her stomach.

However, just as she was about to clasp her hand around the handle, Adrien’s grip on the umbrella faltered, and the object plummeted down, phasing through Adrien and landing on Marinette’s head. Marinette reached blindly for it, and the umbrella clasped shut around her, making her squawk of surprise.  

Adrien burst out laughing. Marinette managed to open the umbrella again, sending him a glare that quickly turned into a fond smile. Standing up, she stepped out under the rain again, making sure the umbrella wasn’t going to close on her again, and extended her hand his way.

“Should we leave, _Chaton_?”

He nodded at her, chuckling a bit, and clasped his hand in hers. Together, they started walking again, the pouring rain isolating them from the outside world.


	4. Who You Really Are

Purgatory was a place not many knew the existence of. It was a place of beginning and end, where souls were born and found their eternal rest when their physical body ceased to exist. It brought equilibrium to the mortal realm, and their settlement made sure no spirits turned evil.

Everyone who had seen Purgatory and remembered could agree that the place was beautiful.

With trees with ivory leaves and silver grass that shone with the sunlight, the sight took the breath away to even the coldest men. In the middle of this lost realm, a wide lake with iridescent waters rested. This lake was known as _Êlýsia Perdía,_ the abode of rest. Inside, souls slowly drifted, enjoying their eternal respite.

When one soul came to Purgatory after their body perished, their ethereal existence merged with the waters of _Êlýsia Perdía,_ and their essences became one. The Mind calmed down, and the Soul fell into a deep sleep.

Some lucky souls, however, had the ability to come and go from Purgatory. Those were the ones which refused to rest in _Êlýsia Perdía_ _,_ with their brothers and sisters. They became Awoken Spirits, and they were given a task by the Master of Purgatory. They had the obligation to take care of Purgatory, and make sure that nothing maimed it.

Adrien Agreste was one of the spirits that refused to spend the eternity in _Êlýsia Perdía._ He’d cried for help when his soul joined the others, and the Master had heard him. Since that happened a year ago, he’d learnt about his new existence, and his new skills. He’d learnt way more about the world than when he had been alive, and every time he lapsed to Earth it brought on a new adventure.

However, that hadn’t seemed enough, somehow. It wasn’t until he met one human named Marinette that he understood what he was missing. In the two months he’d known her, she’d managed to show him more about the joys of being alive than in all his life. She was the epitome of being alive, and he couldn’t help but bask on the feeling of existence that she gave him every time she touched him.

That day he had visited the dark-haired girl, again. He had appeared in her room, as usual, and he had been once again swiped off in one of her multiple tasks and activities. This time, she had been fixing some clothes she’d made all by herself. The local theatre had asked her to make some outfits for their performance of ‘A Midnight’s Dream’, and she had taken that assignment to heart.

Her room was filled with flowing skirts and frilly clothes. Every flat surface was covered by costumes in vibrant colours, and he had to be very careful to watch where he stepped to avoid ruining the beautiful dresses. Suddenly remembering that he was ethereal, he started floating over the dresses, making his way to the concentrated girl, who had failed to notice his presence.

He hovered around her, refraining himself from cackling up. The girl paid him no mind, as focused as she was in her stitching. She had pinned her fringe with the help of some hairpins, leaving her face free of hair that could annoy her. Her tongue stuck out of her mouth subtly, and her nose had scrunched up cutely. It was all he could do to stop himself from reaching for her nose and booping it.

Silently, he placed himself at her back and leaned forward, approaching his mouth to her ear.

“Good afternoon, Princess.”

Marinette shrieked in surprise. The gown she was holding in her hands flowed to the floor, and the needle flew to the other side of the room. Marinette placed her hand on the ear he had whispered on, glaring at him.

“You scared me, _Chaton_. Don’t come from people’s backs again. You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”

Adrien leaned his crossed arms on the couch’s backrest and grinned at her. “I appeared in front of you, Marinette. It’s not my fault you’re so absorbed in your job that you lose sight of your surroundings.”

She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it. “… Fair enough.” She picked the gown lying on the ground, and placed it on her lap. “Do you mind if I finish this before we go out?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Marinette’s eyes were immediately drawn to the jacket. She looked for the needle, but huffed when she remembered it had flown to the other side of the room when she had jumped by his jumpscare. She got up and went to retrieve it, avoiding stepping on the other gowns effortlessly. It showed that she had already gotten used to move around with them cluttering her room.

She returned to her work, humming under her breath. Adrien stayed at the same place, watching her work with a small smile in his face. It was strangely relaxing, watching her put together the jacket. He could feel his tail lazily wiggling behind him, a sign of how comfortable he really was. He could watch her for hours.

She suddenly got up, straightening up the jacket she’d been fixing until then. She made a displeased sound at the back of her throat, and tried to straighten the cloth in her hands. She didn’t look too satisfied with it, judging by the frustration noises coming from her mouth.

“What’s wrong, Princess?”

She dropped herself to the couch. “ _I don’t know_. There’s something wrong with the jacket, but I can’t seem to find what. I don’t have a mannequin, so I can’t see how it’s going to look like properly.”

He looked down at the now crumpled jacket. He knew her struggle too well—he’d been around designers and seamstresses enough to know that a human body was different than racks. They usually asked him to try some of his clothes before the shoot, to make the necessary adjustments.

He stared at Marinette shifting the gown to different positions, and an idea started forming in his mind. Surely it could work, right?

“Marinette, let me put on that jacket!”

Marinette turned to look back at him, slightly startled. “What?”

“Ghosts can touch things as long as you have touched them before, right? Then I could model the jacket for you, and you could see what’s wrong with it. What do you think?”

Her gaze went from him to the jacket, then to him again. “I… I guess that could work. It should also be your size, so…”

She handed him the jacket, and he was glad his fingers could curl around the soft garment, instead of going through it. He carefully put it on, making sure the short sleeves of his gown wouldn’t get wrinkled. One he finished putting it on, he fastened the buttons and straightened the lapels. He grinned at Marinette, striking a pose.

“Hoo boy, I look like a dashing prince, don’t I?” He smirked at her. “Now, my Seamstress, what do you want me to do? Should I lean subtly on the couch? Do you want me staring at the distance in a casual pose? Looking at the camera as if it’s my _maman’s_ spaghetti?”

She rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips. “I’m fine with you standing straight, thank you.”

As soon as Marinette’s eyes landed on the jacket, she forgot all teasing, focusing completely on her task. She walked around him, sometimes tugging at some parts. Stopping just in front of him, she tugged at one of the lapels.

“How does this feel?”

Adrien cocked his head, pensive. “It’s a bit too tight.”

“I thought so. Wait a second, I’ll fix it.”

She retrieved her sewing kit, and started unstitching some of the ornaments. He immediately felt the cloth get looser. Marinette stepped closer and unbuttoned his jacket, sneaking her hand underneath the lapel she was fixing. Adrien had to stop himself from shivering—he was getting used to being touched again, but he still got affected when he could feel her warmth, after so long not feeling anymore.

Trying to distract himself, Adrien looked down to Marinette’s concentrated face, and chuckled softly. “Everything good down there?”

Marinette didn’t look away from her work, as she stitched again the seams expertly. “I’m still getting my head around that a famous model is wearing my clothes, but everything else is fine. This should fix the tightness you were feeling before.”

He hummed in response. He kept on watching her, lost in his thoughts, until he spoke up again.

“I’m still Adrien, you know?”

“Hmm?”

“Even if I was a famous model before, I was still Adrien. I still am. It’s the only thing left of what I was before.”

Her stitching stopped. She looked up at him with an unreadable expression. He looked back at her, wishing desperately he hadn’t made things weird between them. After some time, she placed a hand on his cheek, and he closed his eyes, relishing on the warmth coming from her touch. It was getting more and more addictive.

“I know who you are, Adrien. You were a lonely soul looking for solace, and you bumped into me. You’re my friend, no matter if you were a model in your previous life or not.” She let her hand slide to his clothed shoulder, and adjusted the lapels. “It’s just… it’s the first time I meet a ghost that I knew of when they were alive. Moreover, I was a fan, so in situations like this it’s a bit weird for me. But I’ll get used to it. I promise.”

Adrien felt his entire being go warm. He couldn’t understand how someone could be so welcoming. He’d never met someone that was so tuned with him, that understood everything he tried to say, even if it sounded awkward. He felt so blessed to have found her.

Without thinking, he leaned forward, and brushed his lips on her forehead, leaving a soft kiss there. Marinette looked up, eyes open wide at the gesture. She raised her hand to the place where he had kissed her, brushing it with her fingers. Her cheeks got brilliant scarlet, and a soft squeal escaped from her lips.

She suddenly stepped backwards and turned to the side, covering her flaming cheeks with her hands. “Well! I still have a lot of other costumes to fix, so let’s keep going.”

She retreated to her chaise, and picked the next gown in the pile, this time a forest-green dress. She started working on it almost immediately, almost drowning in the wide skirts.

Blinking a little to clear his head, Adrien took off the jacket and showed it to Marinette. “Where should I leave it?”

She waved a hand. “Try to find a free space around, maybe there’s a free rack somewhere.”

He looked around, finally placing the jacket on one chair, on top of a frilly shirt. He walked back to the chaise, and Marinette immediately scooped over, leaving enough space for him. He leaned on his stomach, his tail waving lazily on his back.

They spent hours like this, with Marinette working and Adrien watching her work. They chatted from time to time, but kept mostly to themselves. Sometimes, Marinette made him try on some of the other clothes, to see if they adjusted fine.

They spent the afternoon together, until Marinette was called to the table. Adrien left feeling satisfied, fading off from Earth. He teleported to Purgatory, breathing deeply when he arrived. The air was clean and full of energy, unlike Earth’s. He blinked slightly, trying to get used to the eerie bright light. He could hear the running of the water nearby, so he knew he was near _Êlýsia Perdía._

Adrien made his way back home, leaving _Êlýsia Perdía_ behind. The soft wind ruffled the white leaves of the trees surrounding him, and carried a sweet smell that filled his nostrils.

He stretched his back; it felt so good being back to Purgatory. The Earth, while exciting, carried the weight of billions of souls, and the air was charged with imprints of them. It drained his spiritual energy quite fast. But he didn’t care about that—he could regain his energies just fine spending some time in Purgatory. His trips to Earth were worth it. Meeting Marinette was worth it.

Suddenly, he felt something shifting beside him, and he tensed, on alert. He turned to the side, trying to spot the source of the noise, when someone slapped the tree branches aside.

“Ugh, I hate these trees. Their leaves get _everywhere_!”

A blonde girl stepped to the clearing, cursing at the leaves attached to her body. Her oriental uniform, black and yellow, instead of his all-black robes, were rumpled, as if she had had a bad landing. Her see-through wings were buzzing angrily, and her bright black antennae were curved downwards, showing how upset she really was.

Suddenly, she turned to look at him, and a wide smile brightened her whole face.

“ _Adrikins!_ ”

Chloé launched herself at him, arms wide. Adrien managed to catch her with a soft ‘oof’, barely avoiding falling to the floor. Chloé’s grip around him tightened, and her wings buzzed furiously, actually raising her from the floor. He awkwardly patted her head, begging her internally to let go. When she did, he actually took a breath in relief. She was stronger than she looked.

“Hey Chloé. It’s been a while.”

“It’s really been!” She tugged at her ponytail, and started taking out leaves that had stuck in her hair. “I’ve been swarmed with these Akumas lately, I’ve barely had any time to get to Purgatory. Should we go back home? I’m knackered.”

“Sure. I’ve just come back myself, so I could do with a bit of lying down.”

They both started making their way to _Noctis_ _Cubicula_ , a place where the likes of them rested until their next mission. Chloé hugged his arm, a habit she’d gotten when they were children, and leaned on him.

“So, how’s it been going, Adrikins? Did you have much work lately? I’ve heard you’ve been coming and going quite a lot these days.”

Adrien shrugged. “I guess. I’ve been doing this and that, as always. Completing my assignments.”

“Good. You need to keep up with your work. You don’t want to be downgraded to lesser jobs, like fighting Akumas. Those things are nasty.”

“Chloé, that’s _your_ job, and you love it, remember?”

Chloé rolled her eyes. “I know it’s my job, silly. I’m just saying it’s not pretty. It’s rather hard, actually. Those evil spirits leave you winded.”

“Didn’t you say they were a really nice way to release your pent-up frustration?”

“Gods, yes!” she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling in excitement. “I have a lot of that bottled up yet. The life of the mayor’s daughter, _mon beau_ , was exhausting. All that pretending, all that fake luxury… it gets old really soon.”

Adrien nodded to himself. He knew really well what she meant.

Chloé’s childhood, as his, hadn’t been easy. As the only child of Paris’ Mayor André Bourgeois, she was supposed to have it all, but that was far from the truth. After being neglected by her parents, with her mother’s abandonment and his father’s incredibly busy schedule, she had spent most of her time alone. No one would acknowledge her unless she whined her demands, and that had made her grow into a spoiled brat, as Adrien and she jokingly called it.

Her death had been a direct consequence of that behaviour. 16-year-old Chloé Bourgeois believed herself to be indestructible. No one could touch her without suffering the consequences, and she had become power-thirsty and selfish. She started seeing everyone as tools, even Adrien, and her short amount of friendships turned artificial.

It was then, in one normal night, when it happened. She was getting out of a club she had snuck in with some ‘friends’, and was getting back home when a shady man stopped her. She had tried to move forward, threatening him, but he drew a knife instead, demanding she gave him all her money. All her threats fell on deaf ears, and her defensiveness agitated the robber, who lunged forward, weapon in hand, towards her.

He stabbed her twice. She fell to the floor with a short cry, breathless, and unable to scream for help. The man took her purse and left her behind. It started raining then, and Chloé could only watch the raindrops fall to the floor as she lost consciousness.

Chloé had told him, once they met again in Purgatory, that she had never felt more ashamed in her life. It was there, lying on the dirty ground, with water pouring over her when she realised all her titles, all her power meant nothing. She was as human as everyone else, and she had accomplished nothing. No one would remember her, and if they did, it would be with disdain.

It had been the biggest reality slap she’d ever had.

That was the reason her soul had called out. She didn’t want to die being so worthless, and the Master heard her. Her soul was rescued from _Êlýsia Perdía_ , and the Master decided to accept her as one of the Awoken. She was designed as an Akuma cleanser, Shinigamis that looked for evil spirits bound to Earth, and stopped them before they could harm the human world. They tried to cleanse the evil rooted to their spirit, and if they couldn’t, they eliminated them.

And Queen B, Chloé’s codename, loved to kick Akuma’s butt. The rougher, the better.

He had seen her fight an Akuma once. It had been terrifying.

They started seeing the midnight black buildings of _Noctis Cubicula_ at the distance. They were close from home, and Adrien suddenly felt drained. Huh, he hadn’t realized he was feeling so tired until then.

Chloé suddenly slowed down, and Adrien looked at her questioningly. “What’s wrong, Chlo?”

“I know this is going to sound out of character, more so because you knew me before I died, but… I know that old man’s looks can be deceiving, but follow Fu’s assignments, alright? He holds power over all of us.” She bit her lip in a strange sign of vulnerability. “You’re so close to being rebirthed too. Don’t let your stupid emotions rule you now.”

Adrien tensed. His face shifted to his model mask, the one he used to pull when everyone asked how he was, when he was alive. It had been a habit he hadn’t been able to shake off yet.

“What brought this on, Chloé?”

She let go of his arm, and looked forward. “There have been nasty rumours going off around the Shinigami community. People are saying you’re slacking off. I just don’t want you to be downgraded to fighting Akumas. You were lucky to be assigned your task, don’t waste this opportunity.”

“I know. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Glad we settled that.” Chloé dropped all pretences of seriousness and stretched her back. “Ah, this walk’s been nice. It’s been so long since I could talk to someone that saw me and didn’t growl to me.”

By that time, they had made it to _Noctis Cubicula,_ and they were making their way to Adrien’s home.

“It sounds like you’ve been really busy.”

“I have been.” She pouted. “There’s something weird going on with these Akumas; they seem to be multiplying as we speak. I’ve hadn’t had time to have my bath ritual in so long. I’m starting to reek!”

“You smell fine, Chloé.”

Even though Chloé had changed so much, she still was such a spoiled brat sometimes. It was kind of endearing. Sometimes.

They stopped in front of Adrien’s building and Chloé turned to look at him. “Well, there you are. Let’s see if I can manage to go through my ritual before I’m called off to work again. Last time I had to leave just as I finished lighting up my aromatic candles.”

Adrien shook his head in amusement. “Don’t make me hold you here then. Go with your scented candles and bath bombs.”

“Oh, I will.” She threw herself to Adrien, giving him a tight hug. “See you around, Adrikins. Be good!”

“You too. Kick as many Akumas’ butts as possible.”

Chloé let him go with a laugh, and left, waving lazily in goodbye. Adrien smiled to her, and went inside his home. As soon as he closed his door, the smile dropped from his face, a deep frown marring his face instead. He had to be more careful visiting Marinette. He had to make sure no one else noticed something was going on.

He had to protect her.

* * *

Some days after that conversation with Chloé, Adrien woke up slowly, feeling refreshed. He stretched lazily on his bed, letting his bones pop with satisfaction. He settled down again on his bed, absentmindedly watching the curtains wave with the soft breeze coming from outside. Judging by the light coming from the windows, he still had some time before he had to carry out with his obligations.

It felt good to have a lazy morning after so long.

After lying around for some time, Adrien finally sat up, rubbing his hair and leaving it more of a mess than it was before. He went to the bathroom and washed his face, something he didn’t need to do anymore, but it was a habit that had stayed after his death.

Adrien went to his table to retrieve his list of assignments. He put aside his long-overdue assignment immediately, ignoring it completely, and deciding to skim over his side-tasks and new projects instead. He was lucky; he didn’t have many of them, so maybe he could finish them quickly and pay Marinette a visit in the afternoon.

He placed the papers again on the table, and his eyes fell again to the discarded paper. With a deep frown, he grabbed the paper and ripped it, throwing it to the bin. It would appear again on the pile of his assignments the next morning, glaring at him with bold letters and red marks, but he didn’t care. It felt momentarily relieving, somehow.

He left his apartment and started his trek back to the forest. The soft breeze cooled slightly his skin, and he hummed in content. Blue flowers started blooming again in the bushes, and he stopped to smell them. It reminded him of Marinette’s eyes; deep blue, soft and vibrant. One day he had to try to get some of them to his Princess.

He got to his favourite shifting place and took a deep breath, preparing himself. Shifting to Earth after spending the night at Purgatory was always hard on them. It was as if it knew they didn’t belong there, and wanted to throw them back to their place. You got used to the feeling as you shifted more regularly, but it was still hard on them.

They also had to take some time to adapt to Earth’s atmosphere after their shifting. The charged air was difficult to assimilate at first, and often left them winded. It was one of the reasons why he didn’t shift to Marinette straight on; he didn’t want her seeing how hard it was for him to visit Earth.

Making up his mind, he started releasing his powers, bright green electricity enveloping him. There was something about releasing them that felt exhilarating; it was like an adrenaline rush. It was strange that the thing that made them feel more human was what made them more different.

He was about to shift, when suddenly, he heard a furious shout behind him.

“Adrien!” 

He stopped his shifting, turning around in confusion. Behind him, Chloe stood with his arms crossed, her face shifted in a deep sneer. It had been a while since he had seen Chloe look so angry.

“Chlo? What’s wrong?”

“You know perfectly well what’s wrong, Adrien. I’m not stupid. Did you think I wouldn’t catch on what’s going on?”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about this!” She closed the space between them in two long strides and stamped a paper on his chest. Adrien picked it up and winced.

“Chlo…”

“Don’t ‘Chlo’ me. I am angry with you.” She started pacing around, her arms waving in over-exaggerated gestures. “I come back to Purgatory after _weeks_ of chasing Akumas, ready to have my so-deserved rest, when Master Fu calls me to his abode. Then he tells that he’s worried about you; you haven’t been completing your assignments in time, and then he showed me this paper, ripped by no other than you.”

“I’ve completed all my other assignments-”

“But not this one! You’ve had this assignment for almost three months already! What’s going on!?”

Adrien stared down at the ripped page. He gulped down and shook his head. He couldn’t tell her.

“It was just hard to spot her-” He started, but Chloe interrupted him.

“Don’t you dare lie to me again, Adrien Agreste.” Chloe growled, burying her index finger to his chest. “Fu told me everything already. He told me you’ve been _bonding_ with your assignment instead of doing your job. You’ve been slacking off for egoistical reasons.”

Adrien shook Chloe’s finger away and stepped backwards, putting some distance between them. He stared again at the paper, this time focusing on the red numbers under his assignment’s name, and gritted his teeth.

“It’s not for egoistical reasons, Chloe. You haven’t been there.” He turned to face her. “Marinette’s so bright, and so full of life… I have never seen someone who loves life so much.  She can see ghosts, you know? She helps them commute to _Êlýsia Perdía_ to get their eternal rest. There has to be some kind of mistake or-”

“Adrien, are you questioning Master Fu’s powers? You know he’s never wrong.” She crossed her arms again. “What’s the name of the girl, again?”

“Marinette Guillory,” he answered reluctantly.

“Marinette Guillory’s days are numbered. She may look fine, but she’s not. You’re dragging on her natural death, and you’re risking turning her into an evil spirit when she ends up dying. You need to exorcise her before she does. And if you don’t, someone else will be assigned to her, and they won’t care one thing about how they are going to do it.”

“There has to be another way-”

“There’s not. You will lose her either way, it’s your choice how you lose her. So, make up your goddamn mind. You’re not human anymore, you have to remember who you really are.” She turned around, not looking at him anymore. “It’s time you start doing your job as a Shinigami, Chat Noir.”

She left before he could add anything else. Adrien stared at the empty spot left by his friend, gripping his fist in fury. The paper sheet crumpled in his hand, but Adrien didn’t care one bit about it. He would be better off if that blasted thing didn’t exist in the first place. He wouldn’t be in that situation if it didn’t.

Chloé’s words had stung, and a lot. It fit her new self, he guessed. Queen B, while mellower than her human self, was still upfront and stated her opinion, not caring if the receiver would be affected by her words or not.

The worst thing was that she was partially right. He had been ignoring direct orders from his Master, and breaking some of the most sacred rules the Shinigamis had. Because that was what he was; a Shinigami. His job was to guide dying souls to Purgatory so they could get their eternal rest, and he was not doing his job.

It hadn’t been the first time one of his assignments was still alive; most of them were. That was why he shifted at night; he didn’t want to see how they looked like when they were alive, and this way it was easier to convince himself that they would be better off in _Êlýsia Perdía_. He didn’t want to know how they lived their life, or if they had any friends or family that would miss them when they parted. He’d wanted oblivious ignorance, and for a year he’d managed to get just that.

That was until Marinette came. Marinette, the only one awake when he’d gone to retrieve a soul, the only one who could see him. He reminded him of his humanity, something he’d thought he’d lost the moment he became an Awoken. She had managed to stir his dormant heart, and had made him feel again.

That was why he had ignored his assignment so long. It had to be wrong, somehow. Marinette was too special; her life couldn’t end so soon. Someone that loved life so much had to live it at its fullest, for as long as her body allowed it.

He wasn’t going to be the one that cut the link between her body and soul, and he wouldn’t let anyone else do it.

Crumpling the paper in a ball, he threw it to the side, eager to get it as far away from it as possible. Shaking his head, he let his powers surround him, and he guided his conscience to Earth, more concretely, a certain pink bedroom he knew quite well already.

He materialised in front of Marinette’s chaise, as usual. It was still early morning, and he could see her shape underneath the covers of her bed. Her deep breathing was the only sound in the silent room.

He saw something shift in the bed, and the hairs of the back of his neck stood when deep green eyes focused on him. He stared right back at Plagg, trying and not succeeding to tamper the deep anguish he was feeling at the moment. They stood like this for a while, both of them studying each other, until Plagg nodded and stood up. He made his way to Marinette’s face and head-butted her cheek, stirring her up.

“Plagg…? What…?” she mumbled with a thick voice. Plagg looked back at him, and Marinette noticed his presence in the room. “ _Chaton_? Is everything alright?”

He could just answer with a grimace. Marinette extended her arms, asking him silently to join her, and he obliged, floating directly to her arms and lying with her. He buried his face on her shoulder and breathed in, basking on her sweet smell. Underneath his ear, her heart beat strongly, a reminder that she was still very much alive.

It felt like heaven.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked against his hair. He just shook his head, tightening his arms around her.  

Marinette just nodded in response, and didn’t add anything else. Both of them settled in each other’s arms, relishing the feel of the other so close. Adrien tried to memorise every single detail he could, from her smell, the warmth of her touch, and just the feel of her.

He couldn’t believe how someone could become so precious to him in so little time. Marinette was special; friendly, bright, kind, warm… everything his human life had lacked. She was so strong, and yet her life was so fragile. She grasped her life with her own hands, not knowing that it was slowly slipping through her fingers. Purgatory was already claiming her soul, and it wouldn’t be long since they sent someone else to retrieve it.

But he would stop it, he was going to make sure of it. Marinette had to live the life he didn’t have a chance to experience, for as long as both of them could muster. And if someone else was assigned to her, well, let them come. He would be there to fight them off.

Marinette would live; he would make sure of that. He would protect her until the end, even if he ceased to exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guillory is a French surname. It means powerful will.
> 
> By the way, this is your Author's reminder to take a break. If you're reading this in one go, rest your eyes for a while, have a glass of water, and maybe a snack? You get my drift.
> 
> You can also check out my [writing blog](https://writinglittlelies.tumblr.com/), or my [main blog](http://livinglittlelie.tumblr.com/). But seriously, take a breather. Your health is more important than my fic.


	5. Loud Crash

Marinette made her way back home, humming softly to herself. A silver pocket watch rested in her hand, ticking the seconds away softly. However, if one had any kind of extrasensory capabilities, one would have seen a little girl grabbing her hand and walking beside her.

Marinette looked down at the girl. Her hair was midnight black and reached her lower back, and her porcelain skin had an ethereal blue aura surrounding her. Her eyes were brown with crimson hues. She looked adorable, like a doll.

She had remained silent since she had picked up the watch in Marinette’s parents’ antique shop, and she was getting her home to see if she could make her open up. Until now, she had been compliant, which calmed her down. Marinette wasn’t sure what she should’ve done if the little ghost refused to come with her.

It felt weird when ghosts didn’t speak. When a ghost discovered she could see them, they usually became chatterboxes, feeling relieved that someone knew they still existed. That was normally how Marinette got the information to help them move on, but when they didn’t talk she just could make assumptions, and make sure they were as comfortable as possible to open up.

Suddenly, the little girl looked up to her, and her big brown eyes bore into hers. Marinette put her nervousness aside and smiled down at her.

“Don’t worry honey. We’ll get home soon.”

The girl just nodded. Marinette guided her silently to her place, hoping no one noticed something was weird in the way she was holding the clock. She already received odd looks when she went out with Adrien, she didn’t want anyone think she was seeing things. Which she was, but she knew she didn’t have a mental disorder.

She arrived to an empty home. It was to be expected; her parents were still working at the shop. In these kinds of situations, she was glad she had some time alone. This way she could talk with her spirits without restraints.

She guided the little girl to her room. As soon as she opened the door, her two _Lares_ rose their heads in curiosity, looking at the both of them. Marinette guided the girl to the chaise and placed the clock on one of the cushions, nodding at her to take a sit. She then turned around and went to retrieve her folded coffee table and stools.

“Tikki, Plagg, we’ll have an improvised tea party today. Do you want to join us?”

Marinette turned to unfold the furniture, not expecting an answer from the two _Lares_ , as they didn’t usually speak in that form. Two little hands closed around hers, stopping her movements. She looked up, just to see Tikki in her human form smiling at her. Her ebony hair curled softly in a cute bob cut, and she was wearing a red and black polka-dotted dress.

“I’ll take care of this, Marinette. Why don’t you go get the snacks?”

Marinette looked from the table to Tikki. “Are you sure you can handle it? I don’t want your spiritual powers drained just by setting up some dumb furniture.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine!” Tikki smiled brightly at her. “Moreover, you’ve touched them already, right? You know it’s easier for us if you touch them.”

“Okay, you’re right. I’ll go get our snacks. I’ll be back in a second!”

Marinette rushed out of her room to the kitchen. She heated up some water and started gathering pastries on her china-doll tea set. She put some tea bags in the hot water, later pouring the liquid into a jar. She placed everything on a tray and slowly brought it back to her room.

By the time she got there, Tikki had already set everything up. A soft pink tablecloth covered the coffee table, and the stools were in their appropriate positions. Marinette carefully placed the tray on the table and began handing out all the teacups and dishes. Once she finished, she looked up at Plagg, who was gazing lazily at them with no intention of joining them. Marinette rolled her eyes.

“I brought some camembert for you, Plagg. You’ll have it on the table.”

As soon as Marinette placed the dish of cheese on her desk, Plagg jumped from her bed. He landed in front of the dish, and immediately buried his snout in it, bits of cheese spilling everywhere. Marinette scrunched up her nose.

“Just so you know, I’m not cleaning this mess later. So be more careful, Plagg.”

She could see the cat rolling his eyes at her, completely ignoring her request. Marinette sighed, and returned to the table with the two little girls. She poured the tea into each teacup and touched their rims so the ghosts could be able to grab it with no effort.

“Go ahead,” she said to the nameless ghost, “before it gets cold.”

Marinette took a sip of her tea and hummed when the sweet taste filled her mouth. Beside her, Tikki munched happily one of the chocolate chip cookies she had brought, but the other girl hadn’t moved at all. Her gaze shifted from her to Tikki, looking at how the ghost grabbed the sweet snacks without problem. Hesitantly, she opened and closed her hand, as if trying to solve a mystery, until she reached for one of the cookies, clasping her fingers uncertainly around it.

Seeing as her fingers curled around the cookie and didn’t go through it, she picked it up, bringing it to her face. She sniffed at the treat and bit into it. Her whole face immediately brightened after that, and she immediately took another bite. She seemed to like them.

After some cookies and pieces of fruit, the little girl seemed more relaxed around them. Maybe it was time to try to talk to the girl again.

“Hey, I just remembered I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Marinette, what’s your name?”

The girl took a short sip of her drink, and placed it on the table. “My name is Duusu. My papa and mama told me not to talk to strangers, but you gave me cookies, so it’s fine, right?”

“Uh… of course!” It was far from fine, but Marinette wasn’t going to tell her that, not now that she was getting Duusu to open up. “Duusu is a really beautiful name, do you know where it comes from?”

She shook her head. “Papa says it’s from out of France. He travels a lot, and he leaves me his pocket watch to take care of it until he comes back.”

Marinette leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. “So do you know where your mama and papa are?”

“No. One day I woke up and they weren’t there. I just had papa’s watch, so I kept it with me. I woke up at the store where you found me, and I haven’t moved from there until now. Papa and mama always told me to wait in a place if I got lost, so they could find me, but it was getting really boring there.”

Marinette frowned. She guessed she could ask her mother about who had brought the clock to the shop in the first place. However, people didn’t go around handing objects with such a deep meaning to antique shops unless they didn’t know the story behind it or they were in need of money. It made her wonder how much time had Duusu been dormant before her consciousness awoke at the store.  

Well, at least she could try.

“Duusu, as you have been a really good girl, what if I grant you a wish? Something that you crave to do the most?” She smiled at the little girl. “I could help you find your parents, if you wish.”

Duusu crossed her arms, deep in thought, and Marinette faltered slightly. She waited patiently for the girl to make up her mind, and sighed in relief when her face brightened. She would be able to help her, after all.

“I want to travel!”

Marinette’s smile fell. Maybe not.

“Travel?”

The little girl nodded her head enthusiastically. “Yep! I want to see all the amazing places papa saw. It was so boring to stay at home all the time, while papa was seeing so much. I always wanted to join the birds flying around, but mama said I couldn’t unless I grew some wings. Which hasn’t happened yet.” She pouted.

Oh my, that was going to be difficult.

Marinette shifted in seat, trying to come up with something else to help the girl move on. “Don’t you want to see your parents? I could try to get in touch with them, and give them a message from you.”

Duusu’s pout pronounced. “B-but I want to fly! Papa and mama will be always wait for me, but I haven’t flied yet! Why can’t I fly? You said you were going to grant any wish I had, lady!”

Marinette started to panic as the girl’s eyes started to fill up with tears. When the girl started bawling her eyes out, Marinette was about to follow suit. She waved her hands helplessly, trying and not succeeding to calm Duusu down. She couldn’t possibly help her with her wish to fly, but she was looking her with such big puppy eyes, and she was a goner for puppy eyes. Why couldn’t she have a more realistic wish!?

Suddenly she felt a cool hand resting on top of hers and she looked up. Tikki was smiling at her, her childish face brightening up adorably.

“I’ve got this, Marinette, don’t worry.”

Marinette nodded at Tikki, and the Lar of Luck stood up, kneeling beside Duusu. She placed her hand on her head, stroking the girl’s hair softly, humming softly to herself. Miraculously, Duusu calmed down almost instantly, rubbing her damp eyes with her fists. Marinette opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out of it.

_How!?_

When Duusu dropped her fists to her lap, Tikki grabbed one of her hands, and intertwined their hands together.

“Hello, Duusu. My name is Tikki. Could you tell me more about your wish?”

The girl nodded, and looked down at their hands. “I want to fly. When I was with mama I had to stay at home because I was always sick, but I could see the birds from the window. I wanted to play with them, but mama didn’t let me to get out. She said it was bad for me, but my friends the birds wouldn’t let me get ouchies.”

“Your mama was just worried about you, honey.”

“I know, but staying in my room all day is _boring_. Then papa came home from time to time, and he told me about how he could fly with the birds when he’s travelling. I want to go with him and swim in the clouds. I wanted to get out of my room, and suddenly I was out and I couldn’t find mama or papa.”

Tikki smiled down at her, and softly tucked some hair behind her ear. “You want to be free, right?” Duusu nodded. “Well, I think I can help you with that.”

Tikki got up, not letting go of Duusu’s hand. Her eyes glinted eerily, and bright blue energy began surrounding them, a tidal wave that filled her whole room. All sound was drained out of the room, the loud crackling of _magic_ being the only sound Marinette could hear. She felt breathless out of the sudden. She had never feel so much spiritual power in her life.

Suddenly, a blue spirit drifted in her room through the open window. It flew around them, settling on Tikki and Duusu’s joined hands. The little spirit shifted, until it took form of a bird. It chirped loudly, shifting to look at Duusu.

“Pay attention now, Duusu, because this is very important. I can grant you your wish, but it comes with a price. You will be able to fly and get to see the world as your papa did, but in exchange, you will have to protect all living things. You will be the Protector of Freedom, and you will make sure there isn’t a lack of it in the world. Do you understand?”

Duusu’s eyes sharpened, and her seriousness almost felt unnatural in the little girl. “I understand.”

“Do you want to become the Protector of Freedom?”

“I do.”

“You won’t be the same as now. You will become a part of a whole, like a flock of birds travelling with the same aim in mind. Do you still agree?”

“Yes.”

Tikki nodded. “Then, let me welcome you as one of our kind. Duusu, the Lar of Freedom.”

The bright blue magic brightened around them. The bird spirit rose its wings and flew directly to Duusu’s chest. She threw her head back with a soft gasp, and energy burst from within her, enveloping her completely. Marinette had to close her eyes at the bright light, so she could only hear the strong currents of magic going on around them, as if a hurricane had started in her room.

And as fast as it started, it ended. Marinette slowly opened one eye, looking around her room. She hadn’t realized she had fallen to the floor, but after the powerful burst of spiritual energy she had experienced, she could understand why.

She sat up, trying to spot Duusu and Tikki. They were nowhere to be seen. She managed to get on her wobbly feet, when she noticed Tikki lying down on the floor. She had turned back to her cat form, and was waggling her tail slowly. She crouched down to pick her up, and she cradled her in her arms.

“Tikki, are you okay?” she asked worriedly at the spirit. Tikki nodded.

“I used a lot of my spiritual energy too fast. I just need to rest a bit, get my energy back. I’ll be fine after a nap.”

Marinette worried her lip. “If you say so… By the way, what has happened to Duusu?”

Tikki nodded to a spot beside her. She turned around, just to see a bluebird perched on her lamp, her bright blue feathers glinting beautifully in the light. The little bird flew towards her and landed on her shoulder, looking at her directly with deep brown eyes. Wait, she recognised those eyes…

“Duusu?”

The bird nodded and chirped enthusiastically, shifting on her feet. A smile bloomed on Marinette’s face as the situation dawned on her.

“Duusu! You’ve got wings, you can fly!” Duusu chirped enthusiastically in answer. “I’m so glad we could make your wish come true. Now you can travel the world like your dad.” She caressed the soft feathers on the top of her head. “I just hope you drop by sometime to tell us your adventures.”

The bird nodded. “I will!”

Marinette smiled. “Have a nice trip, Duusu. See you soon.”

Duusu took flight and flew through the window, leaving a sparkling blue trail behind her. Marinette smiled at the retreating Lar, then brought her attention back to the sleepy Tikki resting in her arms. She brought her to her chaise and placed her on one of the cushions, caressing softly her fur. Tikki purred in appreciation.

“What has happened, Tikki? How could Duusu become a Lar?”

Tikki curled on herself and raised her head slightly, looking at Marinette in the eye. “Lares are actually the combination of several souls, all with a wish in mind. Their combined spirit energy becomes all, and they join in a unique existence to protect what they cared for the most. Duusu was the last soul the Lar of Freedom needed to start anew their existence.”

“And how did you summon the Lar of Freedom?”

Tikki scrunched her nose. “It’s not exactly a summoning. I called for them, and they answered. They recognised Duusu’s soul as one attuned to them, and they joined. All Lares can call for each other; it’s their decision if they want to answer or not.”

Marinette hummed. “I see.” Also seeing that Tikki’s eyes were drooping shut, she added, “Now get some rest. I’ll clean up and bring you some more cookies, okay?”

Tikki nodded and curled on herself, burying her face under her paw. Marinette stroked her fur some more, then stood up to start tidying up her room. She turned her gaze to the table, the empty mugs and pastries leftovers greeting them. She made her way to the coffee table and put the teacups and dirty plates on the tray. She picked it up, when suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her.

Everything stopped for a second, and the tray slipped from her fingers, falling to the ground. The sound of porcelain breaking was everything she heard when another wave of dizziness hit her, this time making her vision go black and lose her footing. She was about to fall to the floor, when two strong arms surrounded her, stopping her fall.

She whined when her swimming head landed on the cool chest of the person that had saved her from falling. She recognised his smell. She buried her head in his robes, wishing the dizziness to go away. The grip around her tightened, picking her up from the floor and carrying her somewhere. It wasn’t until her body met the soft cushions of her chaise when she started regaining her senses.

“Adrien…” she muttered, clasping her eyes shut.

“Shh, I’ve got you, Princess. Now take a few deep breaths for me.” He placed one of her hands on his chest. “Follow my lead, okay?”

She did as he said, breathing at the same pace he did. Finally, the dizzy spell seemed to retreat, and she was able to open her eyes without wanting to throw up. The face of an extremely worried Adrien was the first thing that greeted her.

“Hey, _Chaton_... It seems this time it was me who dropped by.”

His mouth curled in a little smile. “I remember saying you would fall for me someday, but I didn’t mean it literally.”

Marinette chuckled softly. She started regaining her senses slowly, and the room stopped spinning around her. Adrien was caressing her hair, getting her fringe out of the way. He then cupped her cheek, and she leaned on his touch.

“How are you feeling?”

“As if a truck had just run over me. Where’s Tikki? She was resting in the chaise. She had used a lot of spiritual energy and…”

“She’s okay,” Adrien interrupted her, “she’s on your bed, with Plagg. They’re both worried sick, I can see it from here.”

Marinette winced. She didn’t want to worry them anymore with her dizzy spells. They already had too much on their plate; it was no good if their caretaker became the object of their worry. Moreover, Tikki was exhausted, and Marinette was sure this was taking a toll on her.

She tried to get up, but two firm hands stopped her from moving. “Marinette, you need to rest.”

“But I need to tidy up the room—”

“I’ll do it. Just lie down for a bit, okay? I don’t want you fainting on me again.”

Marinette laid down again, feeling too tired to actually move. She observed Adrien going around in her room, picking up the broken porcelain from the floor and putting it away. He then stood in front of the table and looked at it in concentration. He then went to pick it up, crying joyously when he was able to rise it from the floor. Marinette giggled at the action. He was very cute.

Adrien turned around, putting away the table. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah. It’s just another one of my dizzy spells. I’ve been having some of those these past few months.” She covered her eyes with her arm. “Funny thing; the first one I had was the same day you appeared. That was, what? Three months ago, already?”

She was met with silence. She raised her arm to look at him, just to see him immobile, looking at the floor. He was pale as a statue, and that was saying something, considering the natural paleness of his… predicament. She sat up a bit, resting her weight on her elbows.

“Adrien? Is everything okay?”

He shook his head and shot a smile at her. It was a bit wonky. “Yeah, yeah. I just worry, you know? You need to take better care of yourself, and rest some more. No more all-nighters designing until the dizziness stops, okay?”

“Yeah, I will. This one was pretty big. It scared me a bit, to be honest.”

“If it managed to scare you, imagine how I am right now,” Adrien mumbled to himself. However, Marinette heard him.

She extended her hand towards him, and beckoned him closer. “Come sit with me, _Chaton_. I’ll put it away later.”

He did as he was told, clasping his hand with Marinette’s and sitting on the chaise with her. She automatically rested her head on his shoulder, sighing softly in content.

“How are you, really?”

“A bit tired, but a little nap should be enough to keep me going.” She looked down to their intertwined hands. “What about you?”

“Huh? I’m fine, as always. Worried, I guess.”

Marinette bit her lip, stopping herself from saying anything. The image of a devastated Adrien looking at her as if he was about to lose it all crossed her mind. she remembered the way he’d trembled in her arms, grabbing at the back of her pyjama shirt as if it was his lifeline. She had never seen him look like that, and it had broken her heart to pieces.

He hadn’t said what had been going on then, and he had never mentioned it again. And she had let it go, expecting he would open up when he was ready. She was starting to believe he would never do it.

She rested more of her weight on him, completely leaning on him. He hugged her closer, shifting her slightly so her head was tucked under his chin. She placed her legs on his lap and scooted closer.

“Your father was on the news today,” she mumbled against his collarbone. “It was the first time he showed up in the public view since… you know.”

He twirled some of her hair around his fingers absentmindedly. “What did he say?”

“He made a public announcement about his retirement. Apparently, he’s going to focus on training his successor, Gabriel Agreste, and he’ll leave the business for good once the training ends.”

“Gabriel… oh, that’s my second cousin.”

Marinette nodded. “Your father said the Agreste line had always been a family business, and it should stay that way.” She paused. “He also mentioned you, in the interview. He seemed to miss you a lot.”

Adrien swallowed the lump in his throat, but Marinette could still see how that comment had affected him. She tightened her arms around him, trying to convey how sorry she was, and he answered in kind, understanding.

“Was there… did they say anything else in the interview?”

“Your father didn’t say much else in the interview, he let Gabriel do most of the talking. Your cousin talked about what was going to be his paper in the business, and his future projects. He’s already been selected to be one of the principal designers, after only two years of internship. It’s really impressive.”

“Father only takes the best.”

“So it seems. Gabriel also mentioned he was preparing a competition for future designers. He wanted to show that there really was a future in pursuing fashion design.” Marinette paused, deep in thought. “I’ve thought of joining. The contest will take place in three months, so I’ll be able to prepare a really nice project, don’t you agree?”

Adrien didn’t answer. Marinette looked up in wonder, but Adrien suddenly crushed her in a tight hug, burying his head on her shoulder. Even though he wasn’t making any sound, she could feel him shaking in her arms. She tightened her hold on him, caressing his back. She bit her lower lip, trying to hold in the sob that threatened to slip past her lips.

“What’s wrong, _Chaton_?” she asked with a rough voice, “you haven’t been yourself for the past couple of days… is something worrying you?”

He didn’t answer, just shook his head against her shoulder.

Marinette snuck her hands to his cheeks and slowly rose his head so she could get a proper look at him. His eyes had started to redden, and there were big fat tears threatening to fall from them. She cleared them away softly with her thumbs. She pressed her forehead against his, and closed her eyes.

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

He sighed. “Just stay with me. That’s enough for me.”

He then burrowed his face on her shoulder again and took a deep, shuddering breath. Marinette gave up on trying to ask anything else about the matter; she could see when a discussion was over.

They stayed in the exact same position for a long time, until the skies were tinted with the light of the twilight. Marinette had started to drift off encased in his embrace, feeling warm and comfortable. However, the sound of the front door closing startled her, and she almost fell off Adrien’s lap.

“Marinette, are you home?” called her mother from the entrance.

“Coming! I’m just finishing up some things here!”

Marinette looked back at Adrien. He had already calmed down a lot, and he no longer looked in the verge of tears. He glanced at the closed door, then returned his gaze towards her.

“You should join your mother.”

She bit her lip. “Yeah, probably. What are you going to do?”

“Oh, I’ll just shift to Purgatory, go rest a bit, as usual.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I finished my business in Earth, anyway. It’s time I go back.”

“Will you be alright?”

He nudged her forehead with his playfully. “Aww, my Lady cares.”

She pursed her lips, and tugged at one of his leather ears. “I’m serious.”

“I know.” He smiled softly at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You just need to do what I told you, and everything will be okay.”

“… Okay.”

Marinette was reluctant of letting him go, but she let go of him in the end. He carefully placed her on her chaise, making sure he didn’t drop her to the floor. Just as he was letting her go, she booped his nose, making him scrunch his nose adorably. She giggled.

“You take care, you hear me?” she ordered.

“ _You_ take care. You’re the one actually alive, remember that.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay.”

Adrien placed a hand on the back of her head and kissed her temples. “See you soon.”

“Not if I see you first.”

Adrien flashed her a smile before he disappeared in a flash of light. Marinette stretched before placing her feet on the ground, getting a grip on the chaise backside before standing up. Her legs wobbled slightly, but she didn’t get dizzy by the action. That was a really good sign.

She shot a look to Tikki and Plagg, which were observing her with concern. “Don’t worry, guys. I’m fine. I’ll bring you some more snacks, okay?”

Mariette got out of her room and joined her mother, who was putting the groceries out of the way. She kissed her cheek, and started helping her placing everything in their place.

“How was work, _maman_?”

She shrugged. “The same as always. Today it was a bit slow, so I got a chance to fix the cuckoo clock we received in the morning. What about you? Did you manage to make the pocket watch work again?”

“Yep! I have it in my room, I can give it to you later.”

“I still don’t understand how you manage to fix these things.” She shook her head. “I swear I checked the clock’s mechanisms plenty of times, but it just didn’t want to work. If I didn’t know better, I would think you fix them with magic.”

“They need a bit of love, that’s all.”

“I’ll say. Now, finish putting the groceries away, and I’ll start making dinner.”

Marinette did as she was told. Once finished, she went to her room to retrieve Duusu’s pocket watch and brought it to the kitchen. She placed it on the kitchen counter, making sure she didn’t forget to give it to her mother this way, and she leaned on the table, watching her cook.

“Could you set the table? This should be ready soon.”

“Aren’t we going to wait for dad?”

“He should be coming soon.” As soon as she said that, the front door opened again. “There he is.”

His father walked inside the kitchen, and Marinette went to kiss his cheek. He returned the gesture tiredly, and sat on one of the chairs, chatting with her mother. She turned around to start setting the table, picking the cutlery and placing them in their correct place. She got the dishes next, but another wave of dizziness filled her as she turned around. Her stomach churned. Her vision went black.

Before she could grab onto anything, Marinette fell to the floor with a loud crash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even sorry.


	6. Ivory leaves

The first thing that greeted Marinette when she woke up was white. The smell of antiseptic surrounded her, making her scrunch her nose in disgust. Her eyelids felt heavy, and she had to blink a couple of times to focus completely on what was in front of her. Which wasn’t much, to be completely honest.

She was in a hospital room. That explained the smell. Dirty white walls surrounded her, bare of any type of decoration. Blue curtains swayed softly by the wind coming from the open window, and two empty chairs rested nearby. She looked more to the side and scrunched her nose in repulsion—she’d been connected to an IV dial, _perfect_.

She scratched the plaster fixing the drip needle to her arm, deep in thought. Her mind was still foggy, but, little by little, she was starting to recall what had happened. She remembered falling to the floor while setting the table, and losing consciousness before she hit the floor. She reached for her face, and she bumped into more plasters stuck on her forehead and her cheek.

She sighed to herself, and tried to sit up. She got a bit dizzy at first, but it was more due to getting up too fast than… whatever that was going on with her. She fluffed her pillow and placed it behind her back, getting comfortable.

The door suddenly opened, and Marinette jumped, startled. It was her mother, who was looking down to the book she was carrying. She looked up then, and dropped her book in surprise.

“Marinette!”

She rushed to her bedside, book forgotten on the floor, and hugged her close. Marinette’s breath hitched at the strong grip, but she managed to hug her back, rubbing her back in a calming gesture.

When her mother drew back, Marinette got a chance to get a proper look of her. Her long hair was up in a messy bun, and there were dark shadows under her eyes. She looked terribly tired, and she was pretty sure it was her fault.

“How are you feeling, sweetie?”

Marinette shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve been better. How long have I been out?”

“Two days.” She hugged her again. “I’m so glad you’re finally awake, Marinette. We feared the worst.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s taking care of the shop. He’ll come after closing.” She patted her head. “Wait here for a bit, honey. I need to go fetch the doctor and tell him you’re awake. I’ll come back soon.”

She made her way to leave, picking up the book she’d dropped before and placing it on her bed as she went by. Marinette turned to look outside the window, waiting for her mother to come back. The sky was grey, full of clouds, and it looked like it was going to rain.

The door opened again, this time letting in her mother and a doctor, judging by his white lab coat. He took her vitals, then started talking to her mother in a scientific gibberish she didn’t even try to understand. She just returned her gaze to the window, waiting patiently for them to finish.

Once they did, some nurses took her to run some tests, what meant she had to lie immobile for hours in some machine, waiting in weird positions until the machine beeped, meaning she was free to go. She spent the whole morning like this, and she felt strangely winded. Boredom was, surprisingly, really tiring.

She spent her afternoon in her hospital room, sitting on her uncomfortable bed. Her mother had brought her a sketchbook, so she was able to doodle the hours away. With the last trip home, she had brought Plagg and Tikki too, who had easily sneaked inside her bag. Both spirit cats laid down at her sides, curled on themselves. She pet them when her mother was too engrossed in her book to pay attention.

However, despite the picture of serenity her mother was giving off, there was something going on there.

The doctor had said she would need to stay some more days at the hospital, so they could run some more tests. To make sure everything was alright, he’d said, but there was something smelly there.

Her mother had been tense during all the conversation she’d had with her doctor. Her smile was strained whenever she talked to her, and it had reminded her of all those endless psychologist visits of her childhood. Her mother thought something was wrong, and that fact alone made warning bells go off in her mind.

When her father arrived at her room, he engulfed her in a big hug. She could feel his hands shaking in her back, and his voice trembled when he spoke to her. Her mother placed a hand on his shoulder, and he seemed to swallow his anguish, smiling tightly at her.

She didn’t like this at all.

The nurse came hours later, telling them visiting hours were about to finish. She said only one of them could stay with her, and his father offered, despite Marinette’s protests. Both of them looked exhausted, and she didn’t want to bother them anymore. She felt much better already, refreshed, even. But no matter how much she tried to argue, her father took residence on one of the chairs, covering himself with a flimsy blanket that the nurses had given him.   

Her father fell asleep almost immediately. It took more time for her, his soft snores keeping her awake for some reason. She managed to curl to her side, keeping her left arm in a slightly awkward angle because of the transfusion bag still attached to her. She ran her fingers through Tikki’s fur, who licked her hand in return. Plagg was curled under her neck, sleeping soundly.

She began to relax, matching her breathing to Tikki’s purrs. She felt sleep taking over her, when all of a sudden, a volt of energy ran through her. She sat up, earning a complaining sound from Plagg, but she ignored him, looking around instead. It had felt like when Adrien appeared in her room for the first time, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light beside her. She turned to face him, but instead of Adrien, a blonde girl appeared. Her features were vaguely familiar, and she was wearing similar clothes to Adrien, but with stripes of yellow instead. Her skin glowed with a soft blue aura, floating around her almost protectively.

She had to be a ghost.

But before she could say anything to her, the girl leaned towards her and placed a soft kiss on her temple, and the world turned black once again.  

* * *

Adrien threw himself to his bed and sighed loudly. He felt exhausted. Out of the blue, he had started receiving loads of assignments, one after another, and he had spent two days shifting to Earth non-stop, trying to clear them out as fast as possible. It was the first time for two days that he had time to rest and get his spiritual energy back.

He was pretty sure his workload increase wasn’t random. Marinette’s assignment still glared at him every morning when he got sent his assigned jobs, and the heavy stack of papers were more of a punishment than his duty. Either way, he completed them without a hitch until there was only Marinette’s paper in his hands.

He didn’t care. His job was starting to take a toll on him, but he was already used to working a lot and resting very little thanks to his human job. He knew he could keep on going much more than that. If he had to work the triple load that he did to prove his point to Master Fu, he would do it.

Marinette deserved it.

It had been three days since he had last seen her, and he already missed her. But luckily enough, he would be able to sneak out after his powers were restored and pay her a little visit. He knew he wouldn’t feel on the top of his game unless he hugged her for a while. He always felt great after he hugged her.

Adrien flushed. That—that thought had been embarrassing.

He stretched on his bed, a soft moan escaping from his lips. He felt better already. Sitting up again, he rubbed his hair absentmindedly. He was pretty sure he could manage another shift soon. He didn’t have any more assignments for the day, so he could spend some hours with Marinette.

When he was about to get up, however, he noticed something strange. The air felt charged, almost static, and there was a strange presence surrounding him. Adrien jumped to his feet and looked around, on guard, when suddenly a bright light filled his room. He closed his eyes in reflex, and when he opened up again, he gasped in surprise. Plagg and Tikki were in front of him, looking worried and on edge.

“Adrien, you need to help us!” Tikki exclaimed. Adrien kneeled in front of them.

“What’s wrong?”

“While you were _who knows where_ ,” Plagg hissed, “Marinette fainted again, and has spent these three days in the hospital. Then, tonight, one of your friends came and took Marinette’s soul. We don’t know where they are.”

Adrien’s heart stopped. Plagg’s words felt like a ton of bricks thrown at him, and he had to stop himself from screaming in frustration. It had all been a trap. When he had been so busy completing his tasks like a good boy, someone else had been sent to retrieve Marinette’s soul in his place. And he had let them do as they pleased, like an idiot.

He had to stop them. He had to stop them before Marinette’s soul got to _Êlýsia Perdía_. Maybe he still had a chance; if her link to her body still hadn’t been severed, he still could save her.

“Plagg, Tikki, did they use a scythe to separate Marinette’s soul from her body?”

Tikki shook her head. “The girl just kissed her temples, and when Marinette fell unconscious, she just tugged her spirit away. I could still see the link.”

Adrien nodded, cogs turning in his head. If they hadn’t used a scythe, that meant they didn’t have the power to sever the link between mind and body, that they had sent her to _Êlýsia Perdía_ so it could claim her instead. Only Soul guides like him had the power to cut the link between soul and body, so it meant that whoever had taken her was either an Akuma fighter or a Lares protector.    

Please, let it be a Lares protector. An Akuma fighter’s scythe could damage her soul irreversibly, to the point where she wouldn’t be able to even join _Êlýsia Perdía._ Marinette deserved her eternal rest. Not right now, but sometime in the far, far future.

“Could you describe me how the girl looked like? If I know who they are maybe I’ll be able to track them down before they reach _Êlýsia Perdía.”_

Tikki nodded. “She had blond hair tucked up in a ponytail, and wore oriental robes like you do, but in black and yellow. She had tiny wings in her back, like the ones of a bug.”

Adrien froze at her words. It… it couldn’t be.

“Are you… are you sure about that?” he asked faintly, his voice wavering slightly.

“And why would we be lying about that, boy?” Plagg glared at him. “I saw her too. She looked exactly how Tikki described.”

If Adrien wasn’t sitting already, he was pretty sure his knees would have given out at the news. Chloé. It had been Chloé all along. Chloé, his childhood friend, and the only one that knew just how much Marinette meant to him. Chloé had kidnapped Marinette’s soul, and was going to take her to _Êlýsia Perdía._ Chloé was going to kill Marinette.

It felt like a slap in the face and a punch in the gut at the same time, and he stared forward, disoriented. His fists clenched tightly, until he could feel his nails digging in his skin. An ice-cold feeling filled him, taking a grip on his heart and squeezing hard, until he couldn’t breathe anymore. It was fury, he realized. He was seething in anger.

He stood up and closed his eyes, releasing his powers. He latched immediately onto Chloé’s presence, so used as he was to look for her spiritual imprint. She was hovering over _Êlýsia Perdía,_ almost reaching the gates, but far enough so he could get there in time. He opened his eyes slowly, and nodded at the Lares.

“I know where she is. I’ll go get her.” He looked down at the spirits. “You guys stay here. Chloé is an experienced fighter, and I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you.”

“You can’t possibly-” Plagg started, but Tikki stopped him. She turned to Adrien and nodded.

“Please, be safe, Adrien.”

Adrien nodded, and made his way to the door. He was about to go out, but he was stopped by Plagg calling for him. He turned his head slightly to look at the cat questioningly.

“You bring Marinette back safe and sound, you hear me?”

Adrien nodded, his mind already set. “That was my plan all along.”

Plagg’s serious eyes didn’t waver from him, but he shot him a little smile. “You’re a good boy, Adrien.”

Feeling his resolve rise, he stepped out of his home, leaving the two Lares behind. He immediately headed towards _Êlýsia Perdía_ , his anger and determination making him feel an odd sense of stillness.  He was going to save Marinette, no matter the cost.

* * *

When Marinette opened her eyes again, she was surrounded once again by the colour white. Ivory leaves decorated densely foliaged trees, and, when she looked down, platinum grass curled around her bare feet.

She had no idea where she was. She had never seen a place like this in all her life, nor she even knew a place like this could ever exist. But, somehow, it tugged her memory in a weird way, as if she had been there before, but couldn’t remember. Or maybe she wasn’t supposed to remember.

The next thing she noticed was that she was walking. Her body moved on her own, following the girl she had seen before falling unconscious. Their hands were clasped together, and Marinette noted with dismay than both had the same bluish aura around them. Which only meant one thing.

Marinette was a spirit.

She slowly started regaining control of her body—well, sprit, and she managed to plant her feet to the floor, stopping herself from moving forward. The other looked back in surprise, which quickly shifted to annoyance.

“I can’t believe the effect of my touch has passed already. You should have been unconscious until we got to _Êlýsia Perdía._ ”

“Who are you? Where are you taking me?”

“It doesn’t concern you. Now, move it!”

The girl started tugging at her arm again, but Marinette shook off her grip. “It very much concerns me!” she spat. “Why am I here? What did you do to me?”

The blonde rolled her eyes and caught her wrist again, this time gripping tightly. Marinette winced in pain. The girl started walking again, and Marinette followed reluctantly, her efforts on stopping being ignored.

“I can’t believe it has to be me the one to do this. I really had hoped he would come to his senses, but it seems he’s still as sentimental as ever. I could be doing my actual job, but instead I’m stuck with _you_.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “If it annoys you so much, you just need to let me go and leave.”

She glared at her. “You shut it, _Marinette Guillory_. None of us would be in this mess if it wasn’t for you. If you hadn’t _enchanted_ my Adrikins with your strange magic, we wouldn’t be in here today. He’s been getting in trouble because of you, and you selfishly kept him for yourself all this time.”

“Adrikins? You mean Adrien? Is he in trouble? What’s going on!?”

The Shinigami stopped to face her fully, glaring daggers at her. “God, you’re really stupid, aren’t you? Can’t you even guess what’s going on right now?” She waved around them. “This is Purgatory, and I’m taking you to _Êlýsia Perdía,_ where you belong.”

“Wait, Purgatory? I don’t—” Marinette finally took on the other girl’s features, and realisation dawned on her. “You’re Chloé Bourgeois, the mayor’s daughter.”

“Give the girl a cookie!” she spat sarcastically. “Now, can we keep going? I kind of have a tight schedule.”

Chloé went to grab her hand again, but Marinette shook her off again. “No! I won’t move until you answer all my questions!”

“Oh my god, you’re very annoying! Don’t make me force you come with me.”

“I already know I need to avoid your lips.” Marinette crossed her arms.

Chloés face darkened. “Oh, little girl, I have other ways to make you do as I say. But—” she smiled wickedly— “as you’re _so_ insistent on knowing, I will tell you. It’s time you realize what’s going on around you. It’s time you know that some months ago—”

“CHLOÉ”

Both girls turned around at the familiar voice. Adrien had just stepped to the clearing with a murderous look in his face. He was panting slightly, as if he had been running to get to them. He crossed his arm and raised his eyebrows, looking down at Chloé with an ice-cold glare.

“Chloé, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

She glared back. “ _Your_ job. I _warned you_ , Adrien. I told you this was going to happen if you kept refusing to do your job. But did you listen to me? _No_. Now it’s time both of you burst your bubble and face reality.”

“You have no right—” he hissed.

“Oh, I have all the rights in the worlds.” She let out an unamused laugh. “Master Fu authorised me to fetch Marinette’s spirit when I stated my concerns to him. You are not assigned to her anymore, _I_ am.”

Adrien froze at the spot. Marinette looked at him, panic pooling in her stomach.

“Adrien… what is she talking about?”

“Oh, tell her, Adrien!” Chloé waved her arms exuberantly. “Tell her what your task is in Purgatory, Soul Guide Chat Noir! Tell her she was one of your assignments and that you met her just because you had to take her soul! Tell, her, Adrien! Tell her that for these past months she should have been _dead!_ ”

Marinette paled. What was Chloé talking about? Surely, she had to be mistaken, hadn’t she? There was no way she had ought to die all way back, she had kept on living just fine! But… she thought of her dizzy spells, and her last visit to the hospital. Her parents looked defeated already, almost as if they were preparing for the worst. Was she… was she really dying?

She looked back at Adrien, hoping naively that he would be able to tell her otherwise. However, the pained expression on his face confirmed her worst fears.

“… Adrien?”

He shook his head, his teeth gritted. “It wasn’t her time yet. Master Fu can say whatever he wants, but I know it wasn’t her time yet.” He raised his eyes to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Listen to me, Marinette. There must be some kind of mistake. You’re supposed to live. I won’t let you die so soon.”

Chloé rolled her eyes. “Are we playing god now, Adrien? I must say it doesn’t suit you.”

“ _Shut up, Chloé_.” He glared at her. “This is all your fault. What were you even _thinking?_ I trusted you, and you treat me like this?”

Chloé glared back. “It’s not like I’m _trying to save your ass_! You’re about to lose your Shinigami privileges, everything you've been fighting to accomplish for a year, just for some _human.”_

“She is not just _some human_ , and you should know it.” He shook his head forcefully. “I won’t have her blood on my hands.”

“You won’t have to.”

Chloé reached for her pouch and took out a little baton. As soon as she took it out, yellow light enveloped it, and it transformed into a black scythe. She twirled the weapon in her hands with confidence, smirking at them. Adrien stopped at the sight of the scythe.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m doing what Master Fu ordered me. Little girl, it’s time you finally get your eternal rest.”

Adrien stood in front of Marinette, his arms open wide. “I won’t let you have her.”

Chloé cocked an eyebrow. “And what are you going to do, _fight me?”_

Adrien reached for the baton resting on his hip. As soon as he unattached it, dark green light enveloped it, and when it ceased, he was holding another scythe, his being silver with green markings instead of black. His hands’ grip tightened around the snath, making his knuckles white.

“I will.”

“You _fool!_ Do you really think you can win me? I am an Akuma fighter, and you’re a mere Soul Guide!” she snarled.

Adrien shook his head. “At least I can try.”

Chloé roared and lunged forward. Adrien got a grab of Marinette and jumped, avoiding her attack. She lowered her to the floor, still keeping an eye on Chloé.

“Try to keep yourself out of the way of Chloé’s scythe, okay? I’ll handle this.”

“Adrien—” she protested.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled tightly at her. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

Adrien turned around, leaving her behind him, as he rushed to block another one of Chloé’s swings. She growled and struck again, but Adrien kept on blocking all her hits with a practiced ease. He moved with gracility through her strikes, blocking with apparently no effort, almost as if he was used to fighting.

It was oddly beautiful, Marinette thought, like a dance born with hardship, blood and sweat. It was almost a mystical experience to see both fighters reading each other’s movements, blocking perfectly each other’s attacks and trying to find their opponent’s weaknesses. It was mesmerizing, and some part of her wished she had her sketchbook with her to immortalize the fight.

Chloé jumped back after blocking an especially strong hit from Adrien. She rubbed her lower lip with her thumb and smirked at him.

“It seems your fencing classes paid off, didn’t they?”

“I certainly have to thank father for signing me up to so many extracurricular activities. Fencing was one of my favourites.”

Chloé chuckled darkly. “Your little fencing classes cannot compare to my training, _Adrikins._ After all, I’ve been fighting akuma for a year and a half already, and there are way more vicious than you are. What were you doing in all this time? Taking care of dying souls? Your moves are rusty, honey.”

He rested the handle of his scythe on his shoulders, and smiled cockily at her. “And yet you didn’t manage to land a single hit on me, or did you?”

Her amusement soon changed to anger. “You’ll see!”

She lunged at him again, anger charging up her strikes. Adrien continued blocking them, but Marinette could see that they were starting to take a toll on him. His blocks were slightly slower, and his hands gripped the scythe tightly, almost as if he was worried of dropping it on accident.

Marinette grabbed the cloth of her pyjamas, her hands clenching in tight fists. She detested not being able to do anything for him. He was basically fighting for her, and she was just sitting there, watching them fight. What if Adrien got hurt? What if something worse happened!? She would just be _there,_ useless, not even being able to help him.

She hated that the most.

It was all her fault. Somehow, she had been detrimental to Adrien, and that had gotten him into trouble. Chloé said he was about to lose his privileges as a Shinigami, but what did that even mean? Did that mean that he wouldn’t have the freedom he had now? He would be trapped in this world, just like he had been in his previous life.  Marinette couldn’t allow that.

She held her breath when Adrien tripped slightly, stumbling to the floor. He placed a hand on the floor and pushed himself up, raising his scythe to meet Chloe’s, who was trying to pin him down. His brow furrowed and teeth clenched, struggling against Chloe’s weapon. The blonde girl was resting her body on her scythe, a victory smile on her lips.

“Give up, Agreste!”

“Never!”

He pushed forward, making Chloé stumble, and he lunged again, this time starting the offensive. With a practiced swing, Chloe knocked Adrien’s scythe aside and attacked again, regaining her advantage. But Adrien never gave up, and he countered every one of her attacks with one of his own.

Suddenly, Adrien planted the heel of his scythe to the floor and used it as a pole. He gripped tightly at the snath and lunged forward, catching Chloé’s scythe with his feet and kicking it out of her hands. The scythe flew to the floor, and Adrien swung back to the floor, raising his weapon protectively.

Chloé just stared at the direction where her scythe had fallen, her fists clenching and unclenching in fury. She slowly kneeled down to grab it, her hold tightening painfully around the metallic snath. She looked up at them, and the look of cold fury she shot them made Marinette’s skin get goose bumps. She was chilled from head to toe, and cold sweat ran down her spine.

Something was wrong. She didn’t like that at all.

Chloé struck him again without saying a word. Some kind of aura flickered around her, something that kept disappearing when she tried to focus on it. But before she could focus on it more and discover what it was, Chloé was attacking again in a frenzy, sending one attack after another.

Adrien ducked to avoid one of her attacks, and rolled out of the way. Before Chloé could come for her, he sprung up and lunged at her. Chloé effectively avoided his attack with a backflip and swung her scythe at him again. The metallic clash of their weapons made Marinette shiver in horror.

“What’s with you, Adrien!?” Chloé yelled. “Why are you going so far to protect her!? She is just a stranger you happened to stumble upon, and you got attached to her like a sickening puppy. And here you are, defending her, risking your sentience for a girl that should be dead!”

“I’m doing what’s right!”

“No, you’re trying to make your selfish desires come true!” She jumped back and struck back again. “You know what my scythe does, Adrien! If I cut you you’ll become a wandering soul. You’ll lose all sense of identity. Is that what you want!?”

Adrien pushed forward, making her yield. “You want to cut Marinette with that scythe! Do you really expect me to sit down and watch as you condemn her to a life of solitude!?”

“I wanted to take her to _Êlýsia Perdía_ , stupid! But you got in the way! Just let her die, Adrien, it’s where she belongs! Her body is already decaying, and if her spirit isn’t correctly removed she can become an akuma. Do you want her to go through all that pain!?”

“No.”

“Then just let her die.”

He shook his head. “I can’t do that, either.”

“You’re so _stupid!”_ Chloé roared, and started attacking him again.

A black aura flickered around Chloé, and Marinette froze in the spot. She recognised that aura. She had spent all her life trying to avoid everyone surrounded by that. However, Marinette couldn’t get Adrien’s attention, as focused as he was on parrying Chloé’s attacks.

“Stop it! I don’t want to hurt you!” Adrien shouted.

“I won’t stop until you get to your senses! Adrien, you can’t do this to yourself! We’ve worked so much to be reborn, and you’re throwing everything away for a dying girl. She’s nothing special, you wouldn’t even have looked her in the eye when you were alive, so why her!? Why are you risking so much for someone like her!?”

“Because I’m in love with her!”

In a split second, everything fell silent. Chloé and Adrien stared hard at each other, panting in exhaustion. Marinette clenched her first in her pyjamas’ clothes, her heart beating painfully against her ribcage. She felt breathless, airy and about to burst into tears at the same time. She wished she could get up and run to him, tackle him into a hug and never let go of him, but she couldn’t, not with Chloé still looking like she could murder both of them.

“I don’t expect you to understand,” Adrien continued, “but I do. Marinette… she is warm and accepting, and I’ve never felt more loved in my whole existence. I didn’t expect to fall for her, but it feels _right_ , Chloé. She…” He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to come up with a way to explain it. “When I was alive, everyone wanted me to become someone else. She showed me that being Adrien isn’t that bad.”

“Adrien…” she muttered, and he turned slightly to look at her, a shy smile on his face.

However, neither of them expected the roar of pure rage coming from Chloé. Both looked at her, and they gasped when they saw her completely surrounded by that dark aura of before, completely covering her spiritual powers. The dark influence licked her arms and legs like black ink, leaving messy scribblings in her skin. It also covered her eyes, surrounding them with a black mask resembling a butterfly.

“Chloé…!” Adrien exhaled.

“I’m sick of it. I’m sick of listening you gush about _that_ _girl_. I wanted us to be reborn together, live again in a world that rejected us, but you want to abandon me for _her?_ ”  

Adrien rose his hands to placate her. “It’s not—”

But Chloé wasn’t listening. She threw herself at Adrien, scythe ready to slice, not holding back anymore. Adrien flinched at the attack, but before he could answer in kind, she attacked again, predicting every one of his movements. It was as if her exhaustion had but completely disappeared, and she attacked with a renewed vigour.

Adrien tried to keep up, but he was rapidly losing ground. He tried to trip her, but she just skipped his legs and kicked him. Adrien managed to avoid being hit blocking the blow with his snath, but that left him open for another one of her attacks. She hit him with the heel of her scythe on his stomach, hard enough to make him lose his breath and double over.

Before she could land another blow with her scythe, though, he crouched down and skipped backwards, putting some distance between them. Chloé threw her scythe at him, and the blade would have cut him if it hadn’t been for his quick reflexes. It still had been too close for comfort. The scythe returned to her hands, and she started to attack again.  

“Chloé, stop it!” Marinette begged. “Your anger is controlling you! You don’t want to kill Adrien, do you!? Snap out of it!”

“Shut up!” Chloé turned to face Marinette. “This is all your fault! You ruined everything I had been working on, and you have the nerve to ask me to _stop_!? You worthless scum!”

She lunged at her, but Adrien intercepted it. She was blinded by fury, attacking ruthlessly at him, and Adrien could only try to block all her attacks. However, in one of her blows, instead of striking with her blade again, she tilted her weapon and hit his snath from underneath, making him lose his grip on the weapon. Before he could regain it, though, she kicked it out of the way, landing uselessly some metres away from them.

Adrien glanced at his scythe before focusing again on Chloé, managing to stop a strike with his bare hands. However, Chloé tripped him, and he fell to the floor, getting the air kicked out of his lungs. He looked up at her, winded, and Marinette could see the horror shining in his eyes.

“I can’t believe you chose a worthless girl over your childhood friend. I guess that if you don’t want to be reborn with me, you two can perish right now, together.”

A lot of things happened at once. Chloé started her attack, lowering her scythe to strike him. Adrien closed his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t be able to avoid it in so little time. However, he felt something pushing him aside, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Marinette standing in his place, looking back at him with a watery smile. Before he could even think of reacting, the scythe fell down on her, cutting her from head to toe.

Time stood still as Adrien looked at Marinette, horror seeping through him. She exhaled a shaky breath and her eyelids fluttered shut, making a solitary tear stream down her face. Then, her knees buckled and she fell to the floor with a loud thump.

The sound had drowned around them. None of them moved, none of them breathed until—

Adrien screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops.


	7. My Last Wish

Adrien rushed to where Marinette was lying down, falling to his knees instantly after reaching her. His hands shook when he reached for her, scooping her over so he could cradle her in his arms. On her stomach, a deep cut glowed in bright gold, an ugly reminder of what was going on. Adrien casted his eyes away. He couldn’t bear the sight of it.

Just as Adrien had fallen to the floor, the black markings that marred Chloé’s skin started fading, and the dark aura surrounding her completely disappeared. She blinked drowsily, not understanding what was going on. Then, her eyes landed on the pair in the floor, and blurred memories started to come back to her.

Chloé let her scythe drop to the floor, the weapon retracting as soon as it touched the flat surface. She brought her trembling hands to her mouth, which drowned a horrified gasp that escaped her lips when she started to realize what had happened. Her knees gave out, and she fell to the floor.

She had—she had tried to kill her dear friend. She had almost made him vanish, and because of that… because of that, she had killed someone else. She had killed Marinette.

Chloé felt disgusted with herself.  

Adrien, however, was completely oblivious to Chloé’s turmoil. His eyes were completely focused on the girl in his arms, lying unresponsive and looking as if she was in massive pain. He had tried calling her name and carefully shaking her, but she didn’t answer. Adrien placed a hand on one of her cheeks, softly rubbing her skin.

“Marinette, please, open your eyes. Look at me, please.”

Finally, the girl stirred, focusing her half-open eyes on him. She shot him a weak smile, which soon turned into a grimace of pain.

“Adrien…”

“Shh, I’ve got you. You’re alright.” He pressed his forehead against hers, scrunching his face in anguish. “What were you even thinking, jumping in the way of Chloé’s scythe like that, huh?”

“You,” she whispered.

Adrien chuckled softly. He tucked her hair behind her ears, clearing her face. He hugged her closer to him, desperate to feel her alive against him, and buried his head on her shoulder, pressing his forehead against her neck. He released a shaky breath.

“I’ll fix this,” he muttered against her. “I’ll ask Master Fu for help, and he will be able to restore you. He can do amazing things, Marinette. He was the one who turned me into a Shinigami, so I’m sure he can heal you.” He raised his head, and cradled her face with his hands. “We’ll… we’ll get you better in no time, and then we can return you to your body again. And then you will carry on with your life and I will still visit you, and-”

“Adrien, stop it!” Chloé wailed. Her voice was strained, and tears welled up her eyes, still refusing to fall. “We can’t do anything about it. I—I cut the link to her body. Her spirit is fading already.”

Chloé was right. Her wound had started shining brightly, and golden threads started to come out of it. In the ends of those threads, little floating lights burst from them, reminding him of the ghosts he had helped part to the afterlife with her. He reached for one of them. They slipped through his fingers, leaving a warm tingling in their trail.

“No…” he gasped, horrified. Marinette shifted in his hold.

“Adrien…” she called out for him.

“No!” Adrien’s face snapped down to look at Marinette again. Angry tears welled up in his eyes. “This _wasn’t supposed to happen._ This has to stop. I- _I_ must stop it. I will… I-”

She raised her hand and placed in on his cheek. “Adrien, you can’t.”

“I won’t let you _die!_ You- you can’t leave me. Please, Marinette, don’t leave me. I was so lost without you… you reminded me what it was to be me again, so _please…_ please don’t leave me.”

“But I need to go, Adrien. I feel myself slip away as we speak.” She brushed some of his tears away. “We can’t do anything about it, _chaton_. It’s time I finally go to the place I belong.”

“Marinette, _please…”_

She shushed him softly. “I don’t want you to regret anything that happened, you hear me? These months… these months with you have been the best ones in my life. I feel so _blessed_ to have gotten to know you… so please, don’t feel guilty for my death.”

“But me getting to know you got you here, Marinette. You’re _dying_ because of me.”

“I was already living on borrowed time; you and Chloé know it too well. My body was dying when you met me.” She cradled his face with her hands. “Listen to me, Adrien. I didn’t die because of you. I got to _live_ because it was you the one who came for me. I just—” her voice strained, and her eyes welled up— “I’d just hoped we’d have a bit more of time.”

Adrien shook against her. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to stay strong for her. He placed a soft kiss on her temples, when he felt the tingling feeling against his lips. He opened his eyes, and saw her skin was starting to glow with that golden hue. His eyes widened, horrified, and he looked down to her body, just to realize she was starting to fade away.

He was losing her.

“Marinette, You—!”

“I know.” She gulped against the knot in her throat and smiled at him. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I couldn’t give you chocolate chip cookies today. I know how much you love them.”

He shook his head forcefully. “I don’t care about the cookies.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more back rubs and cuddles,” she continued. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take you around more, and I’m sorry I can’t play with you anymore. I’m…” She paused, blinking away her tears. “I’m sorry we couldn’t spend more time together. I’m sorry I’m leaving you alone when you need me the most.”

“Marinette, please, don’t apologize. You… you’ve made me so, so happy. Never mind being awoken as a Shinigami, or having a chance to being reborn. All the time we spent together has been a blessing. My heaven in hiding.”

Marinette shivered, and brought him closer to her with the little strength she had left. She rested her forehead on his and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers together. It reminded her of the first time they’d seen each other, and it left a bittersweet taste in her mouth. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, so much she wanted to experience with him, but her time was running out, and she would never see him again.

But still… she still could do something for him. With the little time she had, she could still give him that. A last memory of her. Something that could accompany him when he missed her the most, that warmed him up, at least a bit.

“ _Chaton_ , I’m so glad I could spend my last moments with you. You met a lonely girl whose only friends were ghosts, but instead you saw someone worthy of risking everything you’d been fighting for. And I am so _grateful_ for getting to know you, and for having had the chance to heal your tattered heart, as you did with mine _._

And if… if it’s my last chance to say it…” She cradled his face with her hands. “Adrien, I am so glad I got the chance to fall in love with you.”

He hugged her tightly, not even trying to conceal his tears at that point. She was as light as a feather, nearly gone. But still, he took a strong hold on her, as if he could ground her and stop her from disappearing.

“I love you, Marinette. You’re worth everything I’ve done, and more.”

She smiled softly at him. “And you’re worth dying for.”

He rested his forehead on hers again, and closed his eyes. “Please… please don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth. You’re the best person I’ve ever met, and it hurts me that no one loved you the way you deserved. So this is me, loving you.”

The little aura balls started coming out of her wound at a higher speed, brushing past him. She was starting to be see through, and he could barely feel her against his body. Adrien’s eyes were fixed on her, trying to burn her image into his memory, until he could remember where every little freckle dusting her nose was.

Marinette caressed his cheek. “Adrien… Will you, will you remember me?”

He smiled sadly at her. “I couldn’t possibly forget you. In this life, for as many years as I exist, and even in my future lives, you will always be there in my thoughts. My Marinette, my princess.”

“And you will always be in mine.” She raised her head and left a soft peck on his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

She smiled at him with that sweet smile that had enchanted him since the beginning of it all, and she burst into a thousand of golden lights. Adrien stayed kneeled down, his arms empty, looking at his hands numbly. The golden lights that once made up Marinette’s essence danced around him before blinking out of existence one by one, until none of them was left.

Adrien clenched her hands in fists and punched the floor, burying them in the loose dirt of the path. He tilted his head up to the sky, and he finally let out the scream of anguish he had been holding in all that time. His body shook violently, and his face scrunched up in pain as he kept on sobbing and screaming until his throat felt raw, letting out his despair.

She was gone. Marinette was gone. He had sworn to protect her, and he had failed. She had been the only one who had shown him what warmth and love really was, and now she was gone.

Adrien let himself fall where Marinette had been lying some seconds ago, trying and failing to still feel her warmth in the damp dirt. Nothing in all his life had left him feeling so broken. His heart beat painfully against his ribcage, as if trying to leave him behind and follow her to wherever she had left.

Chloé watched Adrien from where she had fallen a while ago, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. Even if all she wanted was to run towards him and console him, she was pretty sure he didn’t want to look at her right now. She understood; she wouldn’t like to look at herself either.

She looked down at her scythe again, still retracted. She reached for it, and held it in her hands. It felt way heavier than before, even though she knew it was just a trick of her mind.

In all her existence as a Shinigami, she had never killed anyone. She had usually dealt with long-gone spirits that weren’t human anymore. When she disposed of them, it didn’t feel like she was killing someone, no, it had felt as if she protected everyone like that.

When she had guided Marinette to Purgatory, it hadn’t felt like killing either. She was just guiding a dying soul to _Êlýsia Perdía,_ and the unnatural calm waters would do all the job of reclaiming her soul. She wouldn’t even need to use her scythe on her. It would have been the easiest job she would’ve ever had, but…

But when her scythe had cut into her, that had felt like _killing_. Even if she wasn’t in control of her body and mind, she could remember with all clarity swinging down her weapon and striking her. That didn’t feel like dealing with akumas; it was heavier, harder, stronger, sickening. Her hands felt clammy, sticky, as if she had Marinette’s blood covering them. She felt disgusted with herself.

Chloé had wanted to give Adrien a better life. She had wanted to give him a second chance to find someone who treated him the way he deserved, the way no one had treated him in his first life. The way she had been unable to treat him.

He had found Marinette, and she had nurtured his broken heart back to his old self. Someone who loved him unconditionally, and someone who Adrien loved back with all his heart. And then Chloé had gone and…

Chloé finally let her angry tears spill. She had the feeling she had made a terrible mistake.

* * *

In all honestly, Marinette hadn’t expected to open her eyes ever again. She blinked in confusion, trying to understand what was going on, but she had no clue. She looked down at herself, but the deep gash in her stomach wasn’t there anymore. Her body didn’t look translucid anymore, and her limbs didn’t feel numb anymore.

She was… okay?

She looked around, trying to discover where she was exactly. She was surrounded by pure white walls decorated with what she guessed were Chinese motifs. The furniture was sparse; an ebony cupboard and a chaise with deep red cushions were the only pieces of the room. She looked down, and she saw she was lying on a thick, circular rug, red with black markings that shaped up into Chinese characters.

Apart from that, however, the room was empty. She laid down again, staring at the too-white ceiling, pensive. She was starting to get tired of waking up and just seeing white.

“I see you’re already awake, Mlle Guillory.”

Marinette sat up with a start, just to see an old man sitting beside a low table that hadn’t been there seconds ago, sipping calmly from a ceramic mug. He was wearing a red and white Hawaiian shirt that made her want to look away or scrunch up her nose, and khaki pants. However, what caught her attention was the little green creature resting on his shoulder, staring at her with unnerving yellow eyes.

She tried to rush to her feet, but the man rose a hand, stopping her in the process. “Please, take your time. You just suffered a traumatic experience, and I’m sure it will take a while to get over it.”

Marinette followed his advice and got up slowly, making her way to the table. She kneeled in front of the table, sitting on the balls of her feet, and watched the old man serve himself some more tea.

“Tea?”

“No, thank you.”

Marinette fidgeted in her seat as she saw the old man placing the pot calmly on the table, and started sipping his tea without saying anything else. She tapped her knees in impatience, waiting for him to speak up, but minutes dragged on, and he didn’t look inclined to strike up a conversation. It came to a point where she couldn’t stand the silence anymore, and she spoke up.

“Uhm!” she burst, and the man rose his gaze to look at her. “I… I just wanted to ask…”

“You want to know where you are and who I am, am I right?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!”

The man took another sip from his tea, and placed the mug on the table. “My name is Master Fu, and I am one of the guardians of Purgatory. I am quite certain you have heard about me. As to where you are, you’re in my private quarters, in Purgatory.”

So he was the infamous Master Fu. For how Adrien and Chloé had described him, she had imagined him being a omnipotent, ethereal being, but the man in front of her looked like… well, like a man.

As if he was hearing her thoughts, Master Fu chuckled softly. “Appearances are deceiving, my sweet Ladybug.”

“What—? How—?”

“The spirits talk, Marinette. Lately, many stranded souls have started coming without the need of my Shinigamis, and all of them talked about the sweet human that helped them move forward to Purgatory. You have made yourself a name of your own in the spirit community, and surprisingly, all of them called you Ladybug. I have been wanting to have a chat with you for some time already.”

That was… surprising, to say the least. She played with the hairs of her ponytail, absentminded. She had noticed spirits had started calling her Ladybug, but she had no idea why. She looked back up, just to see that Master Fu had returned to sipping his tea, clearly giving her some space to sort her ideas.

“Do you… uh, do you know why they kept on calling me that?”

“Your aura, mainly. You have a really strong aura, unlike any other human being. The fact that you managed to stay awake in Purgatory for so long without assistance is proof enough. It also helped that you were followed around by two very peculiar Lares.” He smiled and petted the head of the creature resting on his shoulder. “Red and black. Seems fitting.”

Marinette bit her lip thinking about her two Lares. She regretted so much leaving them behind. They were probably confused and scared, and knowing that they would probably never know what happened to her broke her heart. She hoped they would hear voice of what happened to her by other spirits.

She took a deep breath. A lot had happened in so little time, and millions of questions still racked her mind. She tucked her hands under her legs so she would stop moving them, and looked at Master Fu in the eye.

“So… why am I here? I am dead, right?”

“You are. Wayzz, do you want a tea leaf?”

The creature in his shoulder nodded. “Yes, Master.”

Master Fu grabbed a little leaf and handed it to him. Wayzz accepted it and started munching on it.

“There you go.” He returned his hands around his mug. “So, as I was saying. When Chloé cut your link with your body, you passed away. Luckily, her scythe hadn’t hurt your soul enough to disappear, and you drifted to _Êlýsia Perdía.”_

Marinette nodded. It made sense with everything she remembered. It also explained why she hadn’t ceased to exist. But why… why was she still conscious? Hadn’t Adrien told her that once you get to _Êlýsia Perdía_ you lost all sense of oneself? So why…?

“However,” Master Fu continued, not acknowledging her inner turmoil, “you didn’t merge with the rest. Your soul was screaming, and you were stirring the souls around you. So I summoned you here, so we could have a little talk.”

“You did that with Adrien too, didn’t you?”

“I did that with all my Shinigamis.” He took a sip of tea. “My job as a Guardian is to control the flow of the souls in _Êlýsia Perdía;_ to make sure there are no disturbances in the waters, and that souls reach their eternal rest.” He suddenly reached for a box of matches she hadn’t even seen. “Let me show you.”

He picked one of the matches and lit it up. Then, he tucked out an incense bar from under the table and lit it up with the match. She was about to ask him from where he was taking all those things, when suddenly, the smoke produced by the incense spiralled around them, and the room darkened. Images started forming around them, simulating the strong currents of a river, perfectly perpendicular one to another and flowing in synchrony.

“This is _Êlýsia Perdía._ Every single one of these souls live in harmony. However—” suddenly, one current changed its course ever so slightly, and the waters started to stir around them— “when one soul refuses to rest, it perturbs the ones around it, and if the situation is left alone, tragedies can happen.”

Suddenly, the disturbances were so strong than the illusory waters collapsed around them. Marinette brought her arms up to cover her face, but instead of the strong torrent, she just felt a soft wisp of air against her skin. She blinked her eyes open, and the illusion had returned to its initial state.

“On the other hand, these troubled souls can be summoned by the Guardian of the Waters, which has the task to bring back the peace to this soul. However, some souls refuse to stay in the flow, and they become the Awoken. Shinigamis, if you may.”

That made a lot of sense. But still…

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Because you have a choice, Marinette.”

He covered the incense bar with a little cap, and the images around them disappeared. The walls were once again pure white, and the table was still sitting between them. Master Fu took another sip of his tea and continued with his explanation.

“I am deeply grateful for your work with stranded spirits in the human realm. It wasn’t your job to begin with, but you carried on with your duties diligently. Thanks to that, dozens of souls have been saved from being turned into akumas.” He made a stop. “I also witnessed what has happened between you, Queen B and Chat Noir. You were very brave back there.”

Marinette shook her head, lowering her gaze to her knees. “I wasn’t, really. I let them fight until it was too late, and Adrien got almost killed because of that.”

“Oh, little Ladybug, how wrong you are.” He placed two fingers under her chin and pushed her head up so she was looking at him. “Being brave is not being fearless, as being fearless means you have nothing to lose. Bravery is acknowledging your fears and turning them into your strength. You saved Adrien from a fatal wound, Marinette, despite that meaning you had to die instead. You are a hero.”

Marinette felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she nodded in gratitude. “Thank you, Master Fu. It means a lot.”

“It is the truth. And because of this, I would like to offer you something.”

Marinette cocked her head in confusion. “What is it?”

“A wish. I will grant any wish you want so I can soothe your soul. It can be the thing you desire the most, however impossible it seems. However,” he added with a serious face, “be aware that it will be a single wish, not else. So, choose wisely.”

Marinette lowered her gaze to the table. A wish? In her current predicament, it seemed like a lot. She hadn’t expected to have the chance to accomplish anything at all since she died. But now… now she could ask for whatever her heart longed for the most. But, she thought afterwards, there had to be a catch of some kind, right? There was no way he had that much power.

Yet again, she remembered what Adrien had told him about Master Fu, about him being the one who woke him up after his death and turned him into a Shinigami. And if Chloé had been right, he was also the same man who could allow them to be resurrected. So it wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?

“So, I can ask for anything at all?”

“Indeed.”

That made it easy to choose. Too easy, perhaps. But she hadn’t been going to choose anything else from the start, was she? It had always come to that, the thing she had desired the most these past months.

“Okay… Then, my wish is that Adrien is reincarnated.”

Master Fu paused, looking at her up and down. “I see. May I ask why?”

“I… I want him to live life like he couldn’t in his previous life. He can’t stay here anymore; he will forget what life could really be, and he will never leave. I don’t want him to turn again into the unfeeling boy that came to my room to gather my soul; I want him to start anew, and have another chance to see that life isn’t suffering and loneliness, but love and warmth.”

“He had that that with you too, didn’t he? If you wished to turn into an Awoken, you could be always by his side, and he would have the chance to experience the warmth and love you desire for him.”

Marinette shook her head. “Your offer is very tempting. I would love to spend my eternity by his side, and that him was the first thing I saw when waking up, and the last thing I saw when I went to sleep, but…” She clenched her hands to fists and bit her lower lip. “It wouldn’t be the same. All these months he has been at my side, I have seen him regarding the real world with awe, almost as if he couldn’t believe things were real. He _craves_ to be part of it too, even if he isn’t aware of that. I can’t deny him of that chance.”

“Is this your final decision then?”

She nodded. “I wish that Adrien has another chance to live. This is my last wish.”

Master Fu got up, and all the furniture in the room disappeared. Marinette stayed kneeling down in the middle of the rug, looking at him with expectant eyes. He shortened the distance between them, and placed his fingers on her forehead. His touch felt powerful, almost electric, and Marinette had to smother her desire to close her eyes. She wanted to see it all.

Master Fu’s eyes met hers, and he smiled softly. “It was a real pleasure to meet you, Marinette Guillory. The spirits weren’t wrong about you; you have the purest soul I’ve seen in a few centuries.”

“It’s been really nice to meet you too, Master Fu. Thank you for listening to me.”

“Don’t worry, child. I will take care of it all. Now sleep.”

Marinette felt her eyes slowly close, and some sort of drowsiness take over her. She saw millions of constellations against her eyelids, filling her with immeasurable peace. With a smile, she let herself go, and she lost consciousness.

* * *

Months passed after the incident, and Purgatory had run smoothly, without a hitch. Master Fu was in his audience room, softly trimming a bonsai and humming along with a jazz song played by an old-looking phonograph. Wayzz was diligently cleaning up the fallen leaves, even if he had told him thousands of times that he needn’t worry.

However, that moment of peace was soon broken when the double doors of the room slammed open. He looked up from his work, and saw Queen B walking towards his podium with big strides. He smiled softly to himself; the little bee hadn’t lost her inner fire, although doubt still clouded her mind.

“Good morning, Queen B. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I heard Adrien is being resurrected,” she stated, straight to the point. “You said he was going to lose his opportunity for a long time when you ordered to retrieve—” she choked, as if it was difficult to even think of the girl— “ _her._ So what drove the change?”

“Someone advocated for him, and they made me change my mind.”

“ _Who?”_

“Marinette Guillory.”

Chloé gasped in shock. Master Fu observed her reaction through the leaves of the bonsai, categorizing the myriad of feelings shown in her face. He placed the scissors on the table and put the plant aside. He waved at her to sit in front of, and she followed his command, reluctantly.

“What… How…?”

“Before I reveal that, there is something I would like to ask first. Have you heard about someone called Ladybug?”

Chloé nodded. “Some spirits have been whispering about them. I’ve heard they’re someone that danced around the two realms, and that they had great spiritual power. i’ve heard the spirits that are lucky enough to bump into them have the chance to get their wishes granted.” She sighed. “I’ve been a fan of the elusive Ladybug for quite a while. I’d love to get the chance to meet them.”

Master Fu placed his hands in front of him, one on top of the other. He regarded Queen B calmly. “Marinette was Ladybug.”

“What!?” Chloé opened her mouth in surprise. “B-but I didn’t feel anything special coming from her, so how—?”

“Her aura was running out. She had managed to stay alive for three months after her death was due. It’s needed an immense spiritual power to do that. And she had managed to stay awake in Purgatory for a really long time, even after suffering your touch. Didn’t that strike you as odd?”

Chloé slammed her hands on the table. “But—! How—! Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“It wasn’t pertinent to your job. Your task was to bring her spirit to _Êlýsia Perdía,_ and you delivered diligently. You did a good job.”

“I—I really didn’t.” Chloé rested her elbows on the table and buried her face on her hands. “I let my anger rule me, and suddenly I couldn’t control myself. I almost killed my best friend, the only person I had left, and I would’ve if it wasn’t for Marinette getting in the way. I almost ruined it all, and now you’re telling me that I almost made Ladybug’s spirit disappear from the worlds!?”

Chloé felt a soft pat on her head. Swallowing her tears, she looked up to see a smiling Master Fu. She didn’t get how he could smile at her, considering everything she had done. She hadn’t been comfortable in her own skin since that had happened, and she felt helpless.

“It wasn’t your fault, Chloé Bourgeois.” His face hardened. “There was someone meddling in Purgatory, someone that tried to akumatize and use you. You didn’t lose your head; someone made you lose it. But you beat it. You need to be proud of that.”

Chloé folded her arms and slumped on the table. She looked to the side, trying to calm down. She studied the intricate designs decorating the walls around her, and sighed.

“Adrien hasn’t talked to me since that happened. No one had seen him in all this time, so I was astonished when I heard he was going to be reborn. I took his happiness away from him…” She clenched her fists. “He had been extremely cheerful these past months, like I had never seen him before. Now that I think about it, it was all because of her, wasn’t it? And I took it away from him.”

“It had to be done, Chloé. Everything happened as it should have.”

“But this is not what I want! All along, I wanted Adrien to be happy, but I denied him of that. That’s why… that’s why…” She raised her head, and looked at Master Fu with conviction. “That’s why I want another chance, Master Fu. I want a chance to make him happy, to protect him. I want a chance to give back to Marinette everything I took from her. Please, Master Fu, grant my wish.”

Master Fu shook his head. “I can’t grant this kind of wish, Chloé.”

Chloé slammed her hands on the table in fury. “Then, I will make it happen! I don’t know what I’ll do, but I’ll make it happen. I will redeem myself, and no one will stop me.” She pointed at him in a challenge. “There’s nothing that will make me change my mind, old man! So, don’t get in the way.”

He shook his head with a little smile. “The affairs of the Shinigamis are their own. I would never dream of stopping you, I just guide you to the correct path.”

“Glad we agree.”

Chloé got up and nodded to herself. She straightened up her robes, her wings buzzing in impatience at her back. She turned to leave, and just when she was about to reach the doors, Master Fu spoke up behind her.

“Have you considered being reborn?” He commented lightly, the snap of his scissors being the only sound in the room.

“What?”

“I think you should focus on your tasks as a Shinigami.”

She turned around, just to see him taking care of his bonsai once again, completely focused on his task. Knowing she wouldn’t get anything else from him, Chloé left the room and closed the door behind her. She rested on the ornamented door, sighing to herself. She would do it. She still didn’t know why, but she would pay for her mistakes.

Inside, Wayzz floated around his master, looking at him with a concerned frown. “Master, do you think things will end well?”

Master Fu placed the scissors on the table and extended his hand flat. Catching on what his master wanted, Wayzz sat down on it. Master Fu brought him closer to him, and smiled softly at the little creature.

“You see, Wayzz, I cannot tell you the answer to your question. That’s what I find the most beautiful about the human condition; you can’t dictate their destiny. They are the ones taking every decision, making every step, even in the afterlife. Deities can try to maintain the harmony of the _status quo_ , but in destiny matters, it’s humans who have the most power of them all.”

He placed Wayzz on the table and petted his head softly. He then took one tea leaf and handed it to him.

“The only thing I can tell you, my dear friend is to let nature take its course. The future isn’t set in stone, so anything, even the most unbelievably odds, can happen.”

Master Fu kept on trimming his bonsai, a smile on his face. He had high hopes for the future.


	8. Your Hand in Mine

Marinette Dupain-Cheng lived a normal life. Well, it could be considered normal in some people's standards. It _was_ normal for mostly everyone she knew dearly, at least. However, now that she really thought about it, most of her loved ones couldn't be considered normal, could they? After all, most of her acquaintances weren't even alive.

Marinette had always had a special ability, something that other people believed only existed in fairy tales and fiction. Since she had been a little girl, she had been able to see ghosts and spirits.

She didn't know why she could see them when everyone else couldn't, or if there was someone else in the world that had the same ability as her, but the only thing she knew for sure was that ghosts were an essential part of her life. They had been there for her whenever she had needed them, in her good moments and in her bad ones. For her, they were as real as the people surrounding her.

She had refrained from telling anyone about her ability. The only person who knew was her little sister, the only person that seemed to understand her the most.

Now, Chloé had always been very mature for her age, even if sometimes she had her bratty moments. Marinette loved her little sister dearly, and had adored how, when they were little, she had always followed her around, like a little chick following her mother. Growing up, they had always been together, playing with their dolls and going to school together, hand in hand.

People always looked at both of them strangely because they couldn't be more different: Chloé had really long blond hair that shone with the sunrays, while hers was as dark as midnight. Chloé was sharp and mature, while Marinette was sweet and kind. However, they didn't care about the differences people saw in them; what mattered to them the most was that they loved each other.

Marinette still remembered the day she had revealed her secret to Chloé. They had been very little, just seven and five years old. Marinette had been braiding Chloé's hair, but she was getting distracted, as a blue bird spirit kept on flying around in her room. Marinette kept shooting nasty looks at the spirit from her sister's back, trying to conceal her actions of shooing the ghost away, but the ghost kept flying around her, unaffected.

When Chloé's hair had slipped from her fingers for the fourth time, the little girl shot her an annoyed look over her shoulder.

"What are you doing, Mari?"

"Sorry, I just..." she trailed off.

Marinette eyed the ghost bird, still chirping cheerfully and flying around, and sighed. She couldn't possibly try to hide it to Chloé anymore; she had almost caught her talking to spirits more than once already, so it was a matter of time until she discovered it. And what better time to tell her than when they were alone?

Marinette let her fingers slip from Chloé's long locks, the almost-done braid undoing on its own. She stared at her blonde locks untangling themselves, and she couldn't help but wish her hair was that pretty.

"Chloé... do you believe in fairy tales?"

The little girl rolled her eyes. "How old do you think I am? Three?" She crossed her arms. "Of course I don't believe in fairy tales. I'm not a kid,"

"But you're five, Chloé."

"Shut up." She pouted.

Marinette giggled at her little sister's antics. She felt way more relaxed already.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette continued, "but what if fairies did actually exist? What if things that only exist in the stories _maman_ reads to us in bed existed in real life, too?"

Chloé frowned, actually musing the answer. She played with _Doudou Malin_ , her favourite teddy bear, in her lap, trying to come up with an answer. When she did, she looked up again, looking at her directly. She hugged the teddy bear closer to herself.

"I think they could exist. How would so many people know about them otherwise, huh?"

Marinette scooted closer, her eyes glinting in happiness. "What if I told you I can see things other people can't? What if I told you I can see ghosts and forest fairies?"

Something in Chloé's eyes shifted. It was the look she always got when she said something way ahead of her age, as if she had lived through a lot, even though she was still a little girl. Chloé had old eyes, her granny used to say, and Marinette couldn't help but agree with her.

"I would believe you," Chloé muttered, looking at her square in the eyes. "You're my older sister, and I know you. if there's someone in this world that could see fairies, that would be you."

Marinette smiled broadly at her sister's words. She rose her hand to the air, and the little blue bird that had been flying around landed on her pinkie, chirping happily. Marinette brought the spirit closer, and stroked its feathers.

"I'm glad, because Chloé-" she leaned forward, an excited glint in her eyes- "fairy tales are real."

From then on, whenever she had had to talk to ghosts, her little sister helped her hide it from everyone else, even though she couldn't see them herself. And, some years after that, when she had decided to help the spirits to move on to the afterlife, Chloé helped her with them. They made quite a team.

Chloé helped her keep her sense of normalcy in this secret world, and thanks to her she had never, not once in her life, felt alone.

She owed a lot to Tikki, too. The spirit had been by her side since she had memories, even before Chloé was born. The spirit was able to shift forms at her will, but she usually showed herself in the form of a cat when she wanted to be groomed, or a ladybug, to follow her around.

It felt nice, knowing that she had someone right beside her all the time. Someone Marinette could rely on and confide your thoughts to. She was a very good listener, and gave really good life advices. With her, she learnt to be a better person, and to treat everyone fairly, living beings and spirits alike. She was her moral support and her teacher.

However, there was something off in Tikki, sometimes. From time to time, she looked at her as if she was seeing another person altogether, with a bittersweet smile on her face. Every time Marinette asked Tikki about it, she always shook her head, and muttered, "I'm thinking about the past."

She usually looked through the window for some time after that, only opening her mouth to mutter a name she never managed to catch. The sheer melancholy oozing off her always managed to break her heart, and made her wonder whom the spirit was thinking of.

Those moods never used to last long, though; Tikki always cheered up after eating some of her father's special chocolate chip cookies.

Marinette, Chloé and Tikki spent their days dealing with humans and spirits alike, despite her sister not being able to see them. They did their homework and threw tea parties with their spirit friends. They helped with the house chores and watched shadow theatres the ghosts made for them.

Years passed by, and Marinette learnt to fit her normal life and her spirit world together. A new school year started, bringing Alya, who became her best friend in the span of a week. She was a cheerful girl with a strong drive and an innate desire to discover the truth. That made her an amazing journalist, what she wanted to be when she was older.

That also made her stubborn to discover Marinette's secret. Since they had known each other, Alya had always asked herself why Marinette often stared off into space, or chuckled to herself when anyone hadn’t said anything funny. Marinette's secretive smile always riled her up, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't tell Alya about it, at least not for a long time.

It wasn't that she didn't trust her—she did, even if they had only known each other just for months. However, she still felt wary of telling anyone her secret. She didn't know why; she had never had any negative experiences about it, and Chloé had always been very accepting, but still...

The thought of revealing this well-kept secret to someone else brought ice-cold fear inside her. Just the mere thought of telling her friends, family, even her own parents brought images of people looking at her with worried eyes and long visits to psychologists. She didn't want anybody treating her like she was broken for something that was completely normal in her standards. She didn’t want to become a freak.

But, despite some pretty scary moments, she and Chloé had managed to keep the secret... well, _secret_. After all those years, dealing with ghosts felt almost natural, and they became her hidden companions in her day to day life.

That day had started like any other. Marinette had been woken up by Tikki headbutting her face in the morning. She had scratched the back of her ears absentmindedly, reaching for her phone with her other hand. She checked the time and got up, knowing that it was better if she went to wake her sister up before it was too late.

When she got to Chloé's room, she found exactly what she had been expecting. The blinds were all down, and her little sister was an unrecognisable bundle in the middle of her bed. She went inside Chloé's room, effortlessly avoiding her wide shoe collection that was scattered around the floor. Marinette pulled the blinds up, letting the morning light in, but the amorphous bundle on the bed didn't even shift. She scooted closer, and saw that Chloé's face was completely covered with her blanket.

Well, it was time to change that, wasn't it?

With a strong tug, she pulled the blanket off her, exposing her sister to the cold November morning. Chloé shrieked in surprise, flailing around wildly, looking for her bedsheets. When she spotted Marinette with them in her hands, she sent her a nasty glare that could make the bravest of men quiver in fear. Marinette was used to it, though.

"Good morning, Chloé!" She smiled brightly at her.

"Get your ugly face away from me!"

Ah, she was always so sweet and charming.

Marinette threw the bedsheets aside and sat beside her sister, who was curling into herself.  She poked her at her side, making her jump. Her glare didn’t deter her, as she kept on tickling her little sister without a care, avoiding kicks and slaps coming her way. Chloé started shrieking then, trying to grab her hands to stop her. After much begging on her part, Marinette stopped, leaving her little sister winded.

“You… absolute—” Chloé panted— “ass—”

“Marinette, Chloé! You’re going to be late!” the jolly voice of their mother interrupted. It was probably for the better, Marinette thought.

They both rushed to get changed. When Marinette rushed downstairs, her hair tucked in two messy pigtails, Chloé was waiting for her, eating a toast. Her hair was still loose, and when Marinette reached to the table, she handed her a tie without saying a word. Marinette picked it up and combed her hair with her fingers.

“Ponytail?”

“Yeah.”

She did as she was told, the action being almost automatic. She combed her hair and tied it expertly, making sure it wasn’t messy. Just as she finished, Chloé passed her a croissant, and she bit into it eagerly, feeling ravenous.

Sabine Cheng walked towards them, carrying two glasses of juice. “You’re really going to be late if you don’t hurry.”

“Yes, _maman_.”

They both drank their juices dutifully and placed the empty glasses on the table. Marinette grabbed another croissant and both of them walked downstairs, after giving their mother a peck on the cheek each. When they made it down, Chloé threw herself to their father, hugging the daylights out of him, and Marinette kissed him too.

“Have fun at school, my sweets!”

“We will!” Marinette said, waving goodbye.

They made their way to Collège François-Dupont, chatting amicably. Marinette heard buzzing nearby, and she turned her head slightly to watch Tikki land on her shoulder. She smiled at her and kept on talking with Chloé, checking if there were any new ghosts nearby that needed her help. Seeing none, she focused on her conversation with Chloé, nodding absentmindedly to her complaints.

When they got to the entrance of the school, Chloé turned to leave, but Marinette grabbed her hand to stop her. The blonde turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, and Marinette grinned at her.

“What?”

“You give _papa_ and _maman_ kisses and hugs, but you won’t even say goodbye to your big sister?”

Chloé looked at her unimpressed. “And your point is?”

“Come on, Chlo.” Chloé flinched slightly at the nickname, but Marinette didn’t notice. “Give your sister some love. I still remember when you always followed me around, holding my hand and calling me—”

“I get it!”

Chloé placed a quick peck on her cheek and turned around, storming inside the school. Marinette chuckled at her antics. Chloé was very stubborn and had a hard time admitting her feelings, but she knew she cared for her. She’d spent almost fifteen years of her life with Chloé, after all; she knew how her sister ran.

Shaking her head in amusement, she made her way to class. She joined Alya, and both chatted until class started. The rest of the day went the same as always, struggling to stay awake in some classes, learning interesting stuff in others, and just spending time with her classmates.

She had lunch with Chloé at home. The girl told Marinette she was going to spend the afternoon with her best friend, and that left her the afternoon for herself. And Tikki, of course. After musing what to do for a while, she decided to go to one of her favourite shops after class.

The smell of time greeted her when she opened the door of the antique shop. She took a deep breath, enjoying the sense of sheer peace that invaded her. Yes, that had been a good idea.

She walked around the shop, looking at the trinkets displayed around the room. She saw some stranded ghosts here and there, but they didn’t pay much attention to her. There was also a mouse Protector running around, placing some charms in their rightful place after the customers moved them around. It waved at her when she passed by, and she ruffled its tiny head, pretending to check one of the wooden statues beside it.

A pair of black earrings caught her eye. She brought them closer to get a better look, and she noticed they had a reddish hue when they were hit with the light, making them look almost garnet. She picked the wooden box containing the earrings, and traced with her finger the Chinese engravings. Even the box was pretty.

Tikki flew and landed on the box, walking around its surface.

“Do you like it, Tikki?” she asked her.

The little insect nodded. “I do!”

Well, it looked like she was going to get a new pair of earrings.

She made her way to the front desk, waving goodbye to the mouse Protector. However, when she got there, the owner of the shop was already speaking with another customer. She took in his appearance, subconsciously looking at him from head to toe, from his styled blonde hair and broad shoulders to his denim jeans.

Her eyes then landed on the black cat curled around his legs, the bluish aura surrounding him being unmistakable. It was strange to see a Protector linked with one single human, instead of a place, but, well, she was one to talk. Suddenly, the spirit turned to look at her, and his neon green eyes landed on her. A strange feeling rushed through her, and she found herself unable to look away from the cat's beautiful eyes.

So focused as she was on the cat that, she almost didn’t notice that the blond boy had turned around, and was walking towards her direction. Her eyes snapped up, startled, and met his. They were as green as the grass, and the raw _feeling_ pooling in them stopped her in her tracks.

He had stopped in front of her, in the middle of putting the object he had purchased in the bag, as if he had been side-tracked. She almost couldn't breathe at the intensity of his gaze. It took everything in her to stop her knees from buckling, or to stop herself from throwing herself to him, to hug him and never let go.  It was as if the space surrounding them was charged with electricity, and she could feel her skin tingling because of it.

She had never felt _so much_ for a complete stranger.

But as fast as it came, it went. The stranger’s eyes dulled in what looked like resignation, and he shot her a polite smile, slightly hurt by the edges. He stepped aside and headed to the front door. Marinette followed him with her eyes until he reached the door, but he didn’t turn around again. However, the little spirit accompanying him did, shooting her a hesitant look before following his protected.

“Marinette, are you alright?”

The voice of Mme Guillory, co-owner of the shop, snapped her out of it. Marinette turned to her and made her way to the front desk, an apologetic smile in her face.

“Yes, yes, it’s just… who is the boy? I don’t recall seeing him around.”

“Oh, then you’ve must have been missing each other, and quite a lot for that matter. He started visiting the store quite frequently some years ago, although he hardly ever buys stuff. He mostly checks on us, but it’s alright.” She chuckled good-naturedly. “It’s nice having someone worrying about you from time to time. He’s a nice kid.”

“I see…”

Marinette had to refrain herself from asking all the multiple questions clouding her mind. It felt rude to drill Mme Guillory about one of her clients, not even taking into consideration that she didn’t even know the boy. She quelled down her growing curiosity, and placed the wooden box on the counter.

“I would like to buy this, if it’s okay.”

Mme Guillory picked up the box, a small smile in her face. “Ah, yes. I remember when I bought these earrings. It was the kind of trinket my daughter used to love, back when she was still with us.” She opened the box, and looked at the earrings. “She enjoyed uncovering the mysteries of little knickknacks, and managed to fix every single broken watch I brought her. I often thought she had a magical touch.”

Mme Guillory handed to her the box, and Marinette touched one of the earrings with her fingertips. Right. Mme Guillory’s daughter had died many years ago, when she was seventeen, the same age she was now. Marinette couldn’t imagine how it felt like to lose a daughter so soon, when she had still much to live for. She didn’t even want to think about what it felt to die so soon.

Marinette clasped the box shut, and smiled at her. The woman returned her smile, and handed her one bag.

“You often remind me of her.”

Marinette balked in surprise. “Of whom? Your daughter?”

“Yes. There’s _something_ about you… I don’t know. I would call it an aura, if I believed in mystical things.” She put her hand on her chin, pensive. “Now that I think about it… You two look alike, I think.”

“Huh, really?” she cocked her head.

Mme Guillory frowned. “Yeah… or maybe not. It’s been so long… I can’t be sure.”

Marinette blinked in disbelief. That was strange. Deciding to ask Tikki about it later, Marinette dropped the subject. She paid her the earrings and left the shop, waving goodbye to Mme Guillory and the little mouse Protector. When she stepped out of the shop, she tucked the jacket closer to her, shivering due to the cold wind, and made her way back home.

“Tikki… what has happened exactly back there? Who was that boy with the Protector? And what happened with Mme Guillory? Why couldn’t she remember her daughter?”

Tikki stayed silent on her shoulder. Marinette looked down at her questioningly, but she was looking behind her. She turned around, just to see a glimpse of black turning at the corner.

Could he be…?

“Tikki… what’s going on?”

The little insect shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” she frowned.

Tikki sighed. “A wise man once told me that truths revealed in the wrong moment cause more harm than relief. Your curiosity is well-funded, but it’s not the best moment to get your answers.”

Marinette wanted to protest, but refrained herself. If Tikki knew something but thought it was better not to tell her now, she would trust her on it. So, even though she wanted to follow that glimpse of black until she met him again, she turned around and resumed her way home.

However, in all the way, she couldn’t get the blond boy with sad green eyes out of her mind.

* * *

Several weeks had passed since she had last gone to the antique shop, and she kept on bumping into him. She saw him either leaving, too far away to reach him in time, or when it was her the one who had to leave. She saw him in the metro in rush hour, with dozens of bodies between them; or around town, when her friends were taking her somewhere else.

Every time she saw him, her breath hitched and her heart started beating faster. But every time their eyes met, her heart broke for him. What made him look so sad? What made him have such a bittersweet smile? She wanted to reach for him, to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but he seemed so out of reach.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get the boy out of her head. Her eyes always looked for him in the crowd, and her mouth was always ready to call for him if she managed to spot him. But she didn’t. What would she tell him? That she didn’t know why, but she had been fixated on him since she met him? That she wanted to know why he was so sad? Or maybe that she wanted to know why he had a spirit following him around?

She couldn’t possibly do any of that.

Talking to Tikki didn’t help. Every time she tried to talk about him, the little spirit just regarded her with a faraway look. She didn’t answer any of her questions. Marinette was growing frustrated by all of it, and if she didn’t think of a solution soon, she knew she would end up doing something really stupid.

Marinette threw herself to her chaise, burrowing her face on a pillow. She hugged it closer, trying to block everything around her. She didn’t get it! Why was he so special!? Okay, he was really handsome, but she had seen many beautiful people in her life, and she hadn’t been… _obsessed_ about them that much. She hadn’t even talked to him. What was wrong with her!?

Suddenly something heavy landed on her back, making her snap out of it, and she let out a ‘ooph’ in surprise. She rose her head as much as she could, just to see Chloé literally sitting on her back, filing her nails.

“Was that really necessary, Chloé?”

Her sister looked down to her, unimpressed. “Oh, I didn’t see you there,” she said sarcastically. “You're almost merging with the chaise.”

“Would you get up so I can make room for you, then? I’m kind of suffocating here.”

“I don’t know… I’m rather comfortable in here.”

Marinette let herself faceplant on the cushion, tired of trying to stand up. “Please,” she pleaded against the pillow.

Chloé rolled her eyes but eventually got off Marinette. Marinette rolled off the chaise and fell on the floor, her face slightly red. Chloé sat on the chaise again, leaned on the raised end and started filing her nails again.

“Are you going to lie on the ground all day?”

Marinette covered her eyes with an arm. “Why are you so mean to me? Where’s the cute little sister that used to grab my skirt all the time because she didn’t want to get separated from her older sis?”

“I was a _child_!” Chloé shrieked. “I had all these childish… urges and impulses.” She shuddered. “You can’t blame me for them now.”

“Come on, don’t say you didn’t have fun with me, Chlo,” Marinette teased, hitting one of her feet lightly.

“Maybe… maybe it wasn’t that bad to have you as an older sister. You’re… you’re really nice.” The girl bit her lip, looking as if it was physically painful to admit it. As an afterthought, she added, “Being attached to you sure helped me to keep an eye on you.”

“Wouldn’t it be the other way around? I’m the old sister, I need to take care of you.”

Chloé rolled her eyes. “Marinette, once you competed against Tikki on who could eat more cookies and you passed out after eating fifteen of them. You need someone watching over you.”

“Hey! I resent that!” She pouted. “And I ate seventeen cookies, mind you. Tikki just won because she’s a spirit, so she doesn’t have stomach.”

Chloé raised an eyebrow. “And that didn’t make you think that maybe it was a bad idea to begin with?”

Marinette just stuck her tongue out and got up from the floor. She flopped down on the chaise and leaned on her sister. Chloé instantly protested, but she made room for her. Marinette got comfortable and sighed in satisfaction.

“Now,” Chloé started, “will you tell me what got you so moody?”

“It’s silly…”

“Mari, you were practically bemoaning against the pillows. It’s not silly.”

“It’s…” She sighed. “It’s a boy.”

Chloé looked down at her in surprise. “You’ve got your eye on _someone_? I have to say, after seventeen years, it was time you finally got a crush. Who’s the lucky guy?”

“I don’t know.”

Chloé stopped filing her nails to look at her incredulous. “You… don’t know.”

“ _No_ ,” she moaned, and covered her eyes with one arm. “There’s this guy I’ve seen around. I saw him first at Mme Guillory’s shop, and since then, I’ve got glimpses of him everywhere. But every time I want to get close to him, something gets in the way. It’s frustrating.”

Chloé patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. “So… what’s the boy like? He has to be very special if he managed to catch your attention.”

“He’s blonde, and he has gorgeous green eyes. You could drown in them. But his smile, Chloé, his smile is so sad… Every time I see him I want to hug him close and tell him it’s going to be okay. And do you know which is the weirdest part of all?”

“Do tell.”

“He has a Protector following him too. A black cat.”

Marinette felt Chloé tense underneath her. She looked up, just to see her face contorted in a weird expression, torn between anguish and longing. She shifted so she could face her properly, worry filling her.

“Chloé…?”

Her eyes snapped back to her. They were dead serious, unlike she had seen Chloé before. Marinette straightened up a bit, ready to ask what was wrong, when Chloé grabbed her from her shoulders, startling her.

“Marinette, listen to me. I might have not been the best sister out there, and maybe _sometimes_ I have been a bit harsh with you, but for once, follow my advice. You _need_ to talk to him. No matter how much time it takes, whenever you have a chance, go to him. It’s very important that you do.”

“Chloé, what's wrong? Why is that boy so special?”

Chloé dropped her hold on her shoulders and looked to the side. “Please… don’t ask. I can’t tell you anything else.”

Marinette looked at her weirdly, but nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it. I trust you.”

“Right.” Chloé stood up. “I need to go do my homework. You’re free to come pester me later.”

She made her way to the trapdoor. She dropped down the stairs, but when she was about to close the hatch behind her, Marinette called her name. She stopped, looking at the dark-haired girl, who smiled at her.

“And you’re the best sister I could’ve asked for, Chloé. I love you.”

She blushed. “I love you, too.”

Chloé finally closed the hatch, but instead of going to her room, she sat on the stairs, feeling winded. She rested her forehead on her hands, and she felt tears gathering at the corner of her eyes, threatening to fall. However, only deep happiness filled her.

“You’re finally back, Adrien.” She smiled to herself. “It was already time. Tikki and I have been taking care of her all this time. It’s time you take responsibility.”

Chloé heard soft humming coming from above her, and she smiled at the hatch. Standing up, she patted her trousers and made her way to her room. She nodded to Tikki—Chloé couldn’t even comprehend how Marinette still thought she couldn’t see the Lar—and made it to her bedroom. She lied on her bed, eyeing the pile of homework waiting for her.

“Honestly, I wasn’t reborn to do my homework all over again. What a pain.”

She grabbed one of her flats and threw it to the pile, making it fall to the floor. Yes, that was much better.

* * *

Weeks went by, but Marinette still had in mind the conversation she had with her sister.

She had looked for the blond boy incessantly, but she had come up empty. Suddenly, she had gone from seeing him everywhere to not see him at all. She had visited every single place she had seen him before, even visited Mme Guillory’s shop from time to time, but it was all for naught.

Everything she did, she felt like she was forcing destiny. What if her efforts in finding him were doing the total opposite? She really hoped she hadn’t already messed up with destiny too much.

Either way, she had decided to stop looking for him. If she found him again she would go to him and strike up a conversation, and if she didn’t, well, she would carry on with her life. She was a grown-up girl, she could deal with an impossible—and quite probably unrequited—crush like an adult.

No matter how painfully her chest tightened by the thought of never seeing him again.

So, resolute in following her decision, she carried on with her life normally. She woke up, went to class, spent time after school with her sister and friends, helped some lost souls and went back home, where she had dinner with her family and went to sleep. Rinse, repeat.

It came to a point when it was almost natural not to look for him. She still carried the longing to see him everywhere, but at least she didn’t spend her life looking around, trying to spot him. Tikki approved of her decision to stop forcing things to happen, but Chloé was growing restless. Whenever Marinette asked her why she was so invested, she closed off, and she hadn’t managed to get a straight answer out of her.

There was one day when Chloé had gotten angry with her. Marinette had made the mistake of telling her that she had stopped looking for him, and Chloé had become furious. She had started throwing stuff at her, demanding why she was giving up so easily on him, and the ruckus both of them were making had reached the store.

Their mother had come to Marinette’s room, covered from head to toe with flour and fuming. Apparently, when Chloé had thrown at her the last heel and knocked the lamp off her table, the noise had been so loud that it had startled their father. He’d dropped a bag of flour, and the kitchen and, well, Sabine, were now white.

Their mother had scolded them for half an hour, and she had made them do different chores as a punishment. Chloé was in charge of helping to clean the kitchen, despite her protests; Marinette was meant to go buy special toppings from a specialized shop, despite that it wasn’t her fault to begin with.

Marinette picked up her purse and made her way to the bus stop. The 15-minute trip to the shop was already enough punishment, but she managed to make it to the shop before it closed. She quickly chose the toppings her mother had asked for and left, ready to get to her room again, where she could actually feel her fingers.

What she didn’t take into account was that she had to take the bus back in rush hour. The bus was packed, and no matter how much she tried to worm her way inside, everyone kept on pushing her out, as if they didn’t want her to get on.

Just when she had managed to put both feet inside, the bus shuddered, and Marinette stumbled backwards, falling straight to the exit. She reached for something, anything to hold onto, and her hands clasped someone’s arm. However, it seemed that the sudden pull had been too much for them too, and both of them stumbled out of the bus, landing painfully on the sidewalk.

Marinette watched in despair as the bus doors closed in front of her and left. A groan at her left startled her, and she looked down to realize that she had, indeed, dragged someone out with her.

“Ouch, that hurt.” The boy groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

“O-oh my god! I’m so, so sorry! I didn’t mean to drag you out! I stumbled and, oh, god, I’m so… clumsy…”

Marinette trailed off as the stranger looked up to her. Oh my god. It was him. The blond stranger that had occupied her thoughts for nearly a month. She had dragged the mystery boy out of the bus, and she had made him miss it.

How much of a human disaster could she be?

The shock must have been written in her face, because the boy straightened up a bit and waved awkwardly at her.

“Hello…”

“Hi…” she answered back, dazed. However, she soon snapped out of it. “Oh my god, I pulled you out of the bus.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, you did.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged with a smile. “Don’t worry. It’s not a big deal.”

He got up and lent a gloved hand to her. She wished she had grabbed her gloves before leaving home. She grabbed his hand, and he helped her get up. It was when she looked down in shame when she noticed the black cat still curled around his feet, looking up at her with unnerving eyes. She returned her gaze to the boy, who was smiling at her.

“See? We’re all good now. We just need to catch the next bus.”

“Y-yeah.”

Marinette took a look at the bus timetable, and she was filled with dread when she saw that the next bus would come in 30 minutes. Oh man, she had really messed up.

She turned back again to him, her hands covering her mouth. “I’m sorry!”

However, instead of the anger she expected coming from him, he just smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I live nearby, I can just walk home.”

“You’re… you’re not mad?”

He shrugged. “Of course not! I should be thanking you, really—I was about to suffocate in there. So, you really saved my life back there.”

Marinette giggled, a soft blush decorating her cheeks. Apart from being gorgeous, he was also kind. Wait, what?

The boy shot another look to the timetable and crossed his arms, pensive. “Well then, I’ll just walk back home. I feel like walking for a bit, anyway. What about you?”

“Who, me?”

He nodded. “Will you wait for the next bus?”

“I… I’m not sure. 30 minutes is an awfully long time, but I live near Notre Dame, and it’s a bit too far away…”

“Why don’t you come with me?” he suggested. “We can follow the bus line, and you can hop on the next bus if it ends up catching up to you. Or, well, you could catch the métro.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, that’s a better idea. Who would want to walk back home when it’s freezing?”

Marinette looked at the boy’s sheepish expression. She could choose to leave already, going back to the warm familiarity of her home and continue her life as she had done until then. Or she could choose to stay with him, the blond stranger that had filled her thoughts for so long, and hopefully get to know him better.

There wasn’t really a choice, was there? Moreover, she owed Chloé.

“I will go with you.”

His head snapped to her. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, of course! I—I feel like walking, too.” _Lies._

The boy smiled brightly at her, and her heart almost stopped by that. Oh my god, how could he be so adorable?

“Let’s go, then! Oh, by the way, I’m Adrien. What’s your name?”

“Oh, um, I’m Marinette.”

He shot her a bittersweet smile. “Marinette, huh. It’s a very nice name.” Marinette cocked her head in slight confusion, but he shook his head and smiled. “Shall we?”

They started making their way back home in a companionable silence. Marinette tucked her jacket closer to herself, trying to stay warm despite the wind. However, her hands were already a lost cause. Even moving them hurt.

Clearly noticing her discomfort, Adrien took off his gloves and handed them to her. Marinette looked up to him with big eyes.

“Here, have them.”

“But you’ll be cold!” she protested.

He shrugged. “I’ll be alright. I’m closer home than you are, and I can put my hands in my pockets. Please use them?”

After hesitating a bit, Marinette grabbed them. She put one of them, and sighed when she felt her fingers instantly warming up. She looked from the other glove, to Adrien, and then handed it back to him.

“This way we’ll be both warm, won’t we?” She smiled at him.

His eyes were warm when he accepted the glove, and Marinette had to look away to avoid being blinded by the sight of. She felt already warmer just because of it.

They kept on walking along the bus line, the black cat following behind them. They checked every bus stop for the waiting time, but it increased instead of going down every time they looked, so they kept on walking. They made some small talk, and Marinette tried to memorize the sound of his voice, come a time she wouldn’t listen to it anymore.

They were halfway home when she caught a glimpse of something. A park. She stopped, looking at it and crossing her arms, deep in thought. There was something familiar about it… maybe her parents had taken her there when she was little? But no matter how much she tried to remember when she had been there before, she came up empty.

A hand landing on her shoulder made her jump, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked up, startled, just to see Adrien smiling down at her.

He nodded to the park. “Should we make a little stop?”

She waved her hands in refusal. “It’s not-!”

“Come on!”

Adrien rushed to the park, not looking behind to check out if she was following him. The black cat eyed her after following him at a slower pace, leaving her alone in the sidewalk. From there, she saw Adrien jumping to one of the swings and almost falling headfirst to the floor, if it wasn’t for his strong grip on the metal chains. He got his footing on the seat, wobbling a bit before he could stand up properly, and turned his face to look at her.

“Are you coming or not?” he asked, grinning widely.

Oh, god. The cute boy was a dork.

Shaking her head at him in amusement, she made her way to the swings. She took a seat in the swing beside him, and took impulse with her legs, rocking herself. The chains squeaked at the action, filling with noise the almost silent park.

“This brings back many memories,” Adrien commented. “The park hasn’t changed at all since then.”

Marinette looked up at him. “Have you been here before?”

“Yeah, a long time ago.” His eyes softened. “It was… really nice. The most fun I’d had in a long time. What about you?”

“Me?”

He looked down at her. “Have you been here before?”

“I… I think so.” Her frown burrowed. “It looks familiar, at least. Maybe my parents took me here when I was little.”

“Or maybe you came here in another life,” he commented lightly. At her odd look, he added, “just joking.”

Marinette planted her feet on the ground, choosing to swing softly for a while. “Do you think this park has even been here for so long?”

“Who knows,” he mumbled, a secretive smile on his face.

They stayed silent for a while. Marinette looked to the sky, already dark and full of clouds. She hoped it wouldn’t start raining on her way home. Adrien jumped beside her, and sat down on the swing with her.

“So, Marinette.”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t we play a game?”

“Which game?”

“Truth or dare.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Why do I feel like you will ask me to do something crazy if I pick dare?”

He grinned toothy at her. “Then you just need to stick to telling the truth.”

She rolled her eyes, but she felt the corners of her mouth curling up. “Okay, then. Let’s play. Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

She thought it over. “What’s your full name?”

“That’s too easy, Marinette.” He clicked his tongue. “My name’s Adrien Agreste.”

Her head snapped up at that. “Wait, like the famous designer!?”

“Ah, ah, ah. I believe it’s my turn to ask. Truth or dare?”

Marinette was tempted to ask again, but decided to keep playing. She would get her answers sooner or later. “I already said I was going to stick to truth, so you don’t even have to ask.”

He hummed. “Maybe I’ll stick to truth, too. It’s only fair. So, Marinette, what’s your full name?”

“That’s highly unoriginal.”

He shrugged. “Bear with me?”

“It’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng. My father’s French, and my mother’s Chinese. So, your surname’s the same as Gabriel Agreste, the famous designer?”

“Yes,” he answered simply. At her glare, he chuckled. “Okay, okay. To satisfy your curiosity, yes, I’m related to Gabriel Agreste. To be more specific, I’m his son.”

“You’re joking,” she said, mouth ajar.

“Nope. What’s your family like?”

Marinette shook her head and answered, “My family is very lively. My father looks very intimidating, but I have never met someone so soft. He also gets startled easily, and has the funniest reactions. My mother, however, is very petite, but very strong. And then you have my sister, stubborn and sometimes childish, but she always comes through when I need her the most.” She smiled softly. “I never get bored with them.”

“They sound like a really nice family.”

“They are. What about you? What’s your family like?”

“Now who’s the one asking unoriginal questions?” He shifted in the swing slightly, and bumped shoulders with her. “My family… Well, it’s just my father and me now. My mother disappeared some years ago.”

Marinette gasped. “Oh my god, Adrien, I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “It’s fine. It was hard at first, but now it’s getting better. After it happened, my father… he closed off on himself. He started working madly, barely coming home.” He raised his head to look up at the night sky. “I wanted to get his attention so badly… I even thought of getting into modelling, but I knew from experience that it didn’t work. So, I talked to him, and after a long talk, he understood. He’s getting better at the whole father-son thing.”

Marinette stared at Adrien, biting her lower lip to stop it from trembling. She felt like crying. How could she not, when the boy in front of her had suffered so much in life? She admired how he could still be so cheerful and kind, despite it all.

Adrien turned his head to look at her sheepishly, rubbing his neck with his gloved hand. “I made this weird, didn’t I?”

“Not at all!”

“Yeah, I did.” He stood up and patted his trousers. “Why don’t we keep on going? It’s getting late. We can continue with the game another day.” He winked at her.

She didn’t know where her confidence came from, but instead of becoming a bumbling mess at the action, she just smirked at him. “Are you asking me on a date, Adrien Agreste?”

“Maaaybe. Come on, let’s go.”

Adrien extended his ungloved hand towards her. Marinette did the same subconsciously, getting up in the process. However, the instant their hands touched, something as strong as thunderbolt ran through her, making her lose her breath. Her knees buckled, and she would have fallen to the floor if it wasn’t for Adrien holding onto her.

Adrien helped her kneel down on the floor, their hands still clasped. Her skin felt tingly, and her hairs stood on end.  She felt Adrien’s gloved hand cradle her cheek, and she could hear him asking her something, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying. She slowly rose her gaze and met his eyes, those eyes that had enchanted her since the first day she had seen them, and she couldn’t help but let out the word that came to her mind then.

“… Chaton?”

Adrien’s breath hitched. Carefully, he let go of her hand, and brought it to cradle her face. “… Marinette?”

She smiled at him, even if tears began pooling in her eyes. “You know? I kind of miss those cat ears on your head. They looked really good on you.”

Adrien’s face contorted before he pushed her towards him, encasing her in between his strong arms. He buried his head on her shoulder and started shaking, muttering her name again and again. Marinette held him closer, letting her tears fall freely. Everything fell into place, and she finally found the piece she’d been missing all this time, even if she hadn’t noticed until then.

Adrien slowly rose his head from Marinette’s shoulder, and she noted his eyes were a bit wet as well. She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his like they used to. It brought back so many memories.

“I guess I need to say, ‘I’m back’?” she teased.

He chuckled softly. “You do. You’re not allowed to die on me ever again, Marinette.”

She smiled at him. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hey, I’m being serious here.” He drew back and frowned slightly at her. “No more dying for sixty years or more. Master Fu will have to wait to see your pretty face again.”

“Same goes to you. No more Shinigami work for a while, you hear me, Adrien Agreste? You’re stuck in the mortal realm with me.”

The smile he shot her was the most beautiful thing she had seen in her life. “To be honest, that sounds like a fantastic life, Marinette.”

Adrien placed a kiss on her temple. Marinette was about to take the matter into her own hands and bring him down to kiss her properly, when a loud yowl interrupted her. They both looked down, just to see a seething Plagg almost hissing at them, his eerie green eyes glinting in the dark. Marinette dropped one hand from Adrien’s neck and reached for the Lar of Mischief.

“Of course I didn’t forget about you, Plagg! Come here!”

Plagg didn’t think twice. He climbed on Marinette’s lap and rubbed his head against her cheek, purring loudly. Marinette giggled at the tickling sensation. She caressed him behind his ears, and he started purring louder, if it was even possible.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to see Tikki soon. She stayed at the bakery with my sister. Which reminds me—Adrien, why don’t you come with me? There’s someone there I would like you to meet.”

“We just reunited and I’m already meeting my parents in law? How forward of you, my Lady.”

She hit him playfully on the arm. “Don’t be silly. It’s not my parents.” She grinned secretively at him. “Let’s just say that you’re not the only blonde that was reborn.”

His eyes widened. “You don’t mean…” She nodded. Adrien barked a laugh, and jumped to his feet. “Well, let’s get moving, then. Chloé has always hated waiting.”

Adrien helped her get on her feet. They joined hands, enjoying the warmth coming from them, and smiled shyly to each other. Slowly, they made her way out of the park and to the bus stop, just to see the bus stop some metres away from them. Grinning to each other, they dashed to the vehicle, managing to jump inside before the doors closed, Plagg hot on their heels.

They made their way to the end of the bus and sat together, their arms touching. Marinette rested her head on his shoulder and sighed in content.

Life had never looked so bright before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, and this is it! I hope you liked reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to leave all your thoughts in the comment section, I'll be waiting for your opinion!
> 
> I'm feeling kind of sad that this is already over, to be honest. This has been a really cool experience, and it has let me meet a lot of awesome people. They have inspired dozens of new fic ideas, so I guess you haven't seen the last of us!
> 
> Once again, feel free to check out my [writing blog](https://writinglittlelies.tumblr.com/) or my [main blog](http://livinglittlelie.tumblr.com/). I hope to see you guys there! 
> 
> And the link to all the fanart of the story can be found [here](http://innocentcinnamonbun.tumblr.com/post/168333589862/heaven-in-hiding-by-livinglittlelie-marinette)


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